What If?
by blackviper327
Summary: What if Terra hadn't gone through with Slade's plan to infiltrate the T Tower? What if she had decided that her loyalty rested with friends? What if the course of the Titans' history had been change forever? What if? Sorry for the crap summary. Rated T for language and violence.
1. Prologue

**Well, after a binge of DC Universe Online, and with finals done, I think it's time I got back to this story. It's been killing me trying to jump off from where I left, but I think I've finally got it. Hope you all enjoy. In the meantime, enjoy the updated prologue! I own dick. That's all DC and Cartoon Network.**

**Prologue**

"That's...quite a story, Terra." Robin said, his face still a mixture of disbelief, a trace of anger, and the flash of sympathy as he looked down at the shamefaced blonde sitting in front of him, her head hung low with her long bangs covering her eyes while Beast Boy held her hand. From what Robin could tell, Beast Boy had been by her side like this for the last hour or so before Terra had come down and called them all to the living room, and he couldn't blame him. If Starfire had been in this much pain, he would have been doing exactly the same. The others looked as shocked as him, even Raven, who stood wide-eyed to his left, her hood down and her gaze fixed on the geomancer.

She'd been a traitor. Or at least, that had been the plan. After the first time they had met her, when she had left after she believed Beast Boy had told them about her lack of control over her powers, Slade had found her. He'd convinced her that he could help her, trained her in her powers and then sent her back here as a mole. Tonight was supposed to have been his coupe de grace; She was supposed to have sent the tower's security codes to him, and then his drones would have taken care of the rest. In the end, however, her conscience had won out, and she'd refused her final task. So how they were here. There was silence for a full minute before Terra spoke up again, her voice hoarse and full of regret.

"I'm so sorry...I can't believe I did this to you all. You trusted me...you haven't done anything but help me...you must hate me now." She sniffled at the last word, looking as he she might start sobbing again any second now. Beast Boy gave her hand a firm squeeze at that, and she seemed to calm down again at that touch. Cyborg was the first to speak up.

"Terra, you're family far as I'm concerned. That's all I need to say on that." Instantly forgiven. That was Cyborg, alright. He always did like to play big brother. Robin couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile at that. The big guy certainly did a good job in that role. Then it was Starefire's turn. She was...well, she was Starfire.

"Oh, Friend Terra, how could I hate you!? You are the most wonderful friend I have ever had! The terrible, terrible Slade has lied to you and manipulated you! I will break him for this!" She shouted as she scooped up Terra in a fierce, almost bone-crushing hug. The first part of her declaration of forgiveness had been typical of the Tamaraian. The last part, however, was not. That part had actually frightened Robin. He could actually see that normally sweet, innocent girl doing her best to break every bone in Slade's body for something like this. Slowly, Starfire realized she might have been holding onto Terra a _little _ too tightly, and let her go with a comforting little smile. Terra did her best to smile back, but it was still obvious that she didn't feel much better. Beast Boy was still quite. He'd no doubt already said his piece in private. That left Raven.

Truth be told, Robin had expected Raven to storm out or chew their newest member out like a drill sergeant. Instead, the ash-colored young woman set herself down beside Terra with a nod.

"You followed your conscience. You beat Slade's manipulation. That's what matters now. We can't change what happened or the choices you made before, but you choose your future. You chose us over him." Her hand was on Terra's shoulder as she spoke, her tone surprisingly gentle compared to her usual abrasive monotone. Terra looked shocked at that. Obviously she hadn't been expecting that kind of response from Raven either. There was a long pause, and then, with a sob she threw her arms around Raven and began to cry again. Not guilt alone this time. There was relief in it too.

"I...I don't know what to say. I can't believe you're all forgiving me after this." She finally choked out. Robin looked the geomancer in the eye as he spoke

"You're a Titan, Terra." That struck the girl more than anything else that had been said tonight, it was clear. She looked at all of them slowly with bloodshot eyes.

"You're the best friends I've ever had."

**TTTTT**

In the depths of Jump Cities' abandoned lower levels, secure from intrusion by those pesky little superheroes that seemed to be cropping up like weeds all over the world, Slade Wilson swore as he picked the shards of glass from his hand. He'd broken his favorite wine glass when he'd read the little girl's message, and now his hand was covered in glittering red specks. It was supposed to have gone so simply. Train her, gain her trust and loyalty, then send her in to do the same with the Titans, then crush that vermin once and for all. But no. She'd just had to go and grow a conscience while she was with the Titans. He could still feel his blood boil as it tricked from the dozens of small gashes in his hand.

One word. It has been one word she'd sent, but it was still enough to send him into a rage.

"No."

He swore again as he drew the largest shard from his palm, earning the attention of the men waiting at either side of the entrance to the room. Sharpes and Deych were recent hires. Professional killers that had worked in Gotham for most of their lives before relocating to Jump City after a nasty run-in with that grim town's own caped crusader. Both men were in their forties, like him, wearing black suits, balding (Sharpes retaining his rusty brown mane, while Deych's had gone prematurely gray), and carrying .45 automatics under their jackets.

"Sir? Everything alright?" Sharpes said a bit cautiously, not moving from his spot. Slade briefly thought about slapping his underling for such a stupid question, but he understood that men in that position only had so many responses to this kind of display. If their places were reversed, he imagined he would have asked the question as well.

"Yes. There is a setback in operations. But only a minor one. Plan 2 is still workable. Deych, I want to speak with Calculator within the hour. Sharpes, all of my contacts in Gotham, Metropolis and Central City. We will require heavies." He was done with the local muscle. Cinderblock and Plamus? They'd failed on multiple occasions, as had those HIVE children. No, it was time to bring in some _real _talent. Plan 2 would be more extensive, and costly than his initial operation, but the results would be well worth it. It had gravitas as well. Gravitas and a certain classical charm to it.

His domination of this city was only delayed. Things would go his way. And when they did...well, the world would never be the same again.

**TTTTT**

"When your checks start to actually clear, sweety. The last one you sent me bounced so high it might as well have been a satellite. You want a tip on a score? Go ask Intergang. I'm sure they could use some muscle as dumb as you."

Calculator groaned wearily as he pressed the disconnect key, taking a long, angry drag on his cigarette before he returned his attention to his work. Livewire was always a pain in the ass to deal with, especially when the work was slow for her. Which was all the time, in the last few months. He was not what many would expect in a criminal master mind; short, dumpy, with receding brown hair and thick, gold-rimmed spectacles, he looked more like a New England banker than anything else. Nobody that saw him on the streets would peg him for the man that nearly every super-criminal in the United States relied on for up to date information on scores, superhero activity and general tips and rumors.

He sighed and looked down at his array of monitors; one tuned to newsfeeds, one to a blog popular with the less than reputable super-types, and one to the Gotham City Police Department staff records. That last one was the most important at the moment, as he opened up Detective Renee Montoya's file. Squeaky clean, a list of commendations as long as his arm, a widow with a husband killed in the gangland shit Gotham seemed to stew in every second of every day. He wasn't going to find the sort of crap he'd need to get Two-Face's request done here. Thankfully, there were other sources, and if his runners were to be believed, he'd soon have some very interesting photos of Ms. Montoya and a one Ms. Kate Kane, heiress and recently discharged army-wanabe that would probably put a pause to her investigation for a good long while.

The call came a second later, and the stout little man's eyebrow went up as he saw where it originated from. Jump City, eh? He hadn't gotten too many requests from that town in a good long while, and more often than not it was from a single man in particular, or a proxy. When he saw the name, his suspicion was confirmed.

"You're through to Calculator. What can the master of all he surveys provide today, my one-eyed friend?" He asked, a sort of sarcastic cheerfulness to his voice as he stubbed out his smoke into the overflowing ashtray, then almost immediately lighting up another.

"'Fraid it ain't the big man himself, bud. He needs ya to find sum'n quick and quiet-like." The voice was gruff, harsh and with a distinct Gotham accent, one he'd heard a few times before. So ol' Deych had gotten a new employer, eh? He'd have to make a note of that, seeing as Slade had seemed content to stick with the local boys before. If he was bringing in hired guns from out of town, it meant something had changed, maybe even dramatically so.

"That's what I do. What's this special order Mr. Wilson needs oh so badly?" Calculator asked with genuine curiosity now, his fingers flying over his keyboard to pull up Sharpes' record. The goombah grunted and rattled off what his boss wanted in as clipped and professional a tone has he was probably capable of. It gave the information broker pause, and a frown began to melt over his lips. It was a tall order, but he thought he remembered hearing...yes, some of the product Slade needed was in town.

"Well lucky you, Mr. Deych. You boys happen to be sitting not very far off from what you need. I'll go ahead and send you some recommendations for getting past security, too. Consider that a favor to Mr. Wilson." And so he did, sending off the e-mail with the properly encrypted files. With that he cut off the call, leaning back in his chair and smiling around his cigarette. The Titans were going to be in for a very nasty surprise if this was going to go the way he thought it would. Oh, this was going to be a very interesting show indeed.

**TTTTT**

**I know it's been a long time since I've posted, and I swear that I'll be getting the next chapter up within the next few days. In the meantime, I'm going over the old chapters and sweeping for grammar errors, and maybe even adding a bit more like I did with this one. :) Take care, folks and stay classy.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello, readers! I had a whole lot of free time last night (Arizona monsoon season. Yeah.) so I figured I'd get cracking on the official first chapter of this bitch. Hopefully it won't be as littered with errors as the prologue (Sorry, folks!). I can't say now if I'll have regular updates to this, but I'll do my best to churn chapters out as quick as I can while preserving quality. UPDATE, 5/14/2016: Sweep for grammar errors and such now, enjoy! As usual, I own nothing. Teen Titans is DC and Cartoon Network's.**

**And fluffysnowkittynamedskylar, this is indeed a BB/Terra story. :)**

**Chapter 1**

While Central City wasn't nearly as dangerous as Gotham when the sun set, it still certainly had it troubles, most of whom preferred to get their business settled after the sun had set. It didn't really help to avoid The Flash's ever-vigilant watch over his hometown, but it was so ingrained in the brains of most criminals, even some of the costumed ones, that it was more of a force of habit than anything else.

Shade, however, just preferred the dark. Not surprising, considering the fact that the Nightstick was a tool of the shadows, a power that it had demonstrated quite well tonight. For once, this job had gone smooth. The sack of jewelry was heavy, but that just made him enjoy the success of tonight even more. Everyone was milking the opportunities while Flash was out of town dealing with...nobody was sure what, but it was off in Kasnia, so it wasn't like he needed to worry about that jackass' interference. Kid Flash didn't even warrant a worry in his mind, and he shook his head with a laugh as he started the nondescript van, his haul resting securely in the trunk. He'd have to move fast if he was going to fence this stuff. He had a buyer that was paying fifty cents on the dollar, so he was looking at an eight hundred thousand dollar haul here after the finder's fee, and the cut to his crew for this job. Not the most impressive take ever, but it was respectable, and it would be paying the bills for quite a while.

Then his phone rang. It surprised him enough that he almost swerved into a fire hydrant, swearing and feeling damn lucky there wasn't a cop car in sight. He didn't want to get caught by some cruiser thinking they were dealing with another drunk driver only to find him and the jewels inside. That would just be embarrassing. Growling with frustration he answered the phone with one hand, pulling into an alley while he spoke (He wasn't _that _careless a driver.)

"What? This ain't exactly a great time to be talking." He said in as annoyed a tone as he could muster.

"Got a business proposition for you. I'll spare ya the details for now and cut to the chase; My employer needs some real muscle out here in Jump City. Was told to mention the sum've 1.5 million for initial involvement." Came the voice on the other end, rough and deep, probably middle-aged. 1.5 mil, eh? That was a _lot _of money. Which only meant one thing. Deathstroke (or was he going by his name now? Didn't matter.) was trying to form another Injustice Gang, or something else just as crazy. In most circumstances, Shade probably would have been inclined to hang up right then. The Injustice Gang didn't work, he know. Hell, he'd been in two different incarnations, and both ended up being failures (the second even turning out to be some crazy-ass Amazonian gendercide scheme). But Jump City...that place was easy pickings. Those kids, the Teen Titans, were used to fighting other dumb kids on a daily basis, or that joke Killer Moth. The Minor League of villainy. Shade? He was in the Majors. Compared to the Justice League, the Titans were a merry happy fun times walk in the park. Plus, again, 1.5 mil was a _lot _of money.

"...I'm listening."

**TTTTT**

One more call to Central City, two to Metropolis, and two to Gotham. It took around two hours in all for Nick Sharpes to finish his given chore. He felt just a little bit insulted at being given the job of messenger boy, but the money Slade was paying him right now was enough to placate those feelings. He'd be able to retire to Honolulu after this, live in real style like he'd dreamed up back when he was a kid. Or maybe he'd just get a nice, big condo out here. He didn't miss Gotham in the slightest, not with Batman still around, and sure as hell not while Joker was still kicking.

He and Greg Deych were professionals, damnit, wasted talent on messanger duty. They'd done work for just about all of the bosses in Gotham at one point or another, and they'd made a name for themselves working for King Barlowe before he finally bit it to the cancer. Slade had brought them over to Jump City about two months ago, and so far he'd been one of their better employers, even if he did seem to have some weird obsession with getting one of those Titan kids as an apprentice. The last one had gone native, though, so now they'd gone to Plan B, which as far as he could tell was getting together a bunch of scary-ass supers from the big league for...well, he didn't have any clue about what came next. Boss didn't trust him enough for that kind of information. Typical of these supervillain types.

Sharpes let out a sigh as he picked up the phone again, starting to dial the number for the Central City International Airport. It was going to be a long night.

**TTTTT**

It was a quiet day for the Titans, a rarity these days with Slade's plans escalating by the week, and with the increase in general supervillainy-related nonsense. Sure the League kept most of the big players out of Jump City, but they still had their fair share of trouble, what with HIVE and the influx of guys coming in from Gotham thinking that they would have easier pickings here (Oh, how wrong they were). Four of the Titans were gathered at their usual pizzeria. Terra looked far better than she had only eight hours ago, her face back to the usual smiles and radiance. Cyborg was sure she was forcing it a bit, but she did genuinely seem better. Beast Boy of course was right by her side at the table, in the middle of a story from his Doom Patrol days, complete with highly animated gestures. They were trying not to think about what had happened last night. Robin was off doing his own thing, and Cyborg wasn't sure where Starfire was.

"So Robotman throws Mallah across the room straight into this vat of...I don't know what it was, but it stuck him to the floor for hours! I thought about telling him to stick around but that would have been too easy." He was standing on his seat now, pizza in hand for effect. Terra laughed, as always, smiling up at the changeling while Raven rolled her eyes. They'd heard this story a few times.

"So...uh...not to sound weird or anything, but...from all those stories you told us it...kinda sounds like Mallah might have...y'know...had a thing for the Brain." Cyborg said a bit tentatively, absently chewing on his own slice of pizza while Beast Boy looked down at him with some horror in his face.

"...Dude, I don't wanna know if that was true or not. That's just...ah, man now I'm never going to get that image out of my head!" Terra looked a little horrified at that, too, while Raven was completely unphased.

"I've heard of odder pairings before. You should look into one of those fanfiction websites sometime if you think the idea of those two is bad."

"No! Never again!" Cyborg and Beast Boy screamed almost in unison. They had...discovered some of the odd, terrible thoughts that some fangirls could conjure given time and a computer. About them. In very, _very _graphic detail. It took a few minutes for the two to shake themselves of the memory of that horror. Raven just looked pretty happy with herself.

"So...getting the elephant in the room out of the way. Terra, did you see anything useful about any plans that Slade might have in case this whole situation happened?" Raven said, turning to look Terra in the eye. Terra paused, the guilt coming back to her expression for a moment before she forced it to leave as she thought on the question.

"Nothing very specific as to what he had planned in case...yeah, this happened. Just a lot of phone numbers and names."

"What names?" Raven pressed, while Beast Boy looked at her a bit defensively.

"Dude, come on, don't do this so soon." He tried not to say it too sharply as she scooted closer to Terra, his face a far cry from his usual goofy friendly smile. Terra put a hand on his gently, offering him a smile of her own before she turned back to face Raven.

"It's alright BB. I think I remember most of them. Lester Buchinsky...Joseph Martin...Lawrence Crook...Richard Swift...Rudy Jones...Leonard Snart. That's it. There was a lot of talk about Venom too. Not sure what that means." Raven frowned at that. Obviously she didn't like what she heard.

"Do those names mean anything to you?" She said to Cyborg and Beast Boy. Both of them shrugged.

"Not one of 'em. Might be some guys he works with?" Cyborg said it without much certainty. "Personally if that talk about Venom is what I _think _it's about, I'm more worried about that more than those names."

"Why? What's Venom supposed to mean?" Beast Boy said with genuine baffelement. Raven just sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Uh...Beast Boy, that's the stuff that makes Bane so damn scary to fight." Cy pointed out. That got Beast Boy's attention.

"Oh. That's...really, really bad, then. What do you think he'd do with the stuff?"

"I don't know, BB. But whatever it is, it can't possibly end well for anyone." All four were silent for a long time, their food left unattended and growing cold. Raven was the one to break the silence.

"We need to tell Robin. This sounds like it's going to make for a bad week."

**TTTTT**

**And that's a wrap for Chapter 1. Sorry it's short, hit a writer's block here for a little while, and I wanted to save the big bad guy meet for another chapter. You might've noticed that I could/probably should have categorized this in the Teen Titans/Justice League crossover section, but since this is focusing more on Jump City and the Titans, it deserves to be kept strictly in their category. Still couldn't resist the urge to put the tie-ins to the DCAU in, though. Don't judge me! Like it? Hate it? Read and review, folks! Keep the Titans alive!**


	3. Chapter 2

**At long last, I have time to update! Combination of school work and other distractions've kept me from working on this for a while, took me almost the whole month to get this together, and I'm enjoying some Angry Orchard and pizza as I put the final touches on this. Anyway, hope y'all are happy with this chap, I'll try to update more often!**

**And a late disclaimer, I own precisely two things; Jack and Shit. Also my own imagination. Update, 5/14/2106: Swept for spelling errors and grammar. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

That could have gone better. Beast Boy sighed as he made his way down the hall slowly, head hung low and his eyes on his feet. The briefing with Robin about the names Terra'd heard had gone about as well as they'd expected. None of the names were familiar to him, save for Lester Buchinsky, who turned out was another of those costumed crooks, going under the name Electrocutioner. One of his old baddies from Gotham, a mercenary type that got most of his work from heists, hits and the odd bout in the Meta Brawl arena. None of them had taken it as a good sign. It meant that Slade probably wasn't going to be using local muscle any more, not that they were all that surprised considering how much of a joke those HIVE guys were getting to be. He dreaded finding out who else Slade was bringing in if he was willing to hire people from all the way in Gotham City.

"I'll try calling the Justice League. Maybe they can put some more...names to these names." Robin had said before he dismissed them. Cyborg had gone up to his room to do some research of his own, Raven to do some meditating, Starfire...to do Starefire-y things. Terra'd gone back to her room, where he was going. There were some things that needed to be said.

He knew that he wasn't always good with words, wasn't all that bright, but he tried. He tried every day to do his best for Jump City, for the world, for his friends. Now for Terra too, especially here. Right now he was going to do his best to be the greatest...he really, really hoped...boyfriend ever. He took a deep breath as he stopped in front of Terra's room, hesitating before he knocked twice on the door. There was a pause, and then he heard her voice clear as day.

"Come on in." Her voice was friendly, sounding a whole lot better than last night when she'd come to him. He took another breath before he opened the door, doing his best to look confident. Terra was on her bed, CNN on in the background. They were still going on about Vandal Savage's trial after his attempted coup in Kasnia, which most of the interviewees were assuming would end in nothing short of a life sentence (For all the good that did in this crazy world.). She smiled at him warmly, then patted a spot on the bed beside her. Beast Boy blushed a dark green shade as he sat down, aware of how close she was to him. He stuttered as he spoke, but he managed to get the words out.

"I'm glad you stuck with us, Terra. I know...Slade probably fed you some really, really good lies, but it wouldn't have been worth it." He put his hand over hers for emphasis, squeezing it gently as he offered a warm smile. She smiled back, and squeezed his hand tightly. "I promise, Terra, I'll make sure you know this was the right choice."

"I already know it is, BB. You're the best friend I've ever had. You and all the Titans." Another squeeze of his hand, and the blonde leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, turning his cheeks an even darker shade. "I can't believe I even considered what he said. Everything he promised...it was so obvious he was just using me, but...I was just so desperate. So...so damn stupid." He felt her shudder against him, and he felt a new wave of hate for that one-eyed bastard flow through him. He calmed himself when he looked down at Terra. He hesitated for a moment, but eventual leaned down to kiss the top of her head. She seemed to like it, if the nuzzle against his neck was any indication. That helped to alleviate some of the uncertainty in his gut.

"...Garfield." He said it quickly, blushing as dark as he could as he looked Terra in the eye. She blinked, looking right back at him. "My name's Garfield."

She stared at him for a moment, then, softly at first, she let out a giggle. It was the happiest sound he'd heard out for her since her confession, and it made him smile to hear it. They stared at eachother for a long moment, eyes locked as Beast Boy began to wrap his arms around Terra. When she spoke again, it was soft, but warm and sweet as honey, making his heart skip a beat.

"I think I'm in love with you, Garfield."

Then the geomancer closed the distance between their lips, and Beast Boy became the happiest teenager in the world.

**TTTTT**

They were an impressive bunch, Slade had to admit, as he looked over the conference table and the gathered men seated on both sides of the California Redwood. Six of them in total, all in their costumes, and all looking as intimidating and professional as they did in the newspaper clippings and CNN, Al-Jazeera and Fox newsreels. The armed men he'd posted at the door and at each corner of the room, all dressed in cheap suits and sporting MP5s or Ithaca 37s, were more for show than anything else at this moment. More men flown in from Gotham to replace the incompetent drones he usually employed.

"Atomic Skull,"

"Electrocutioner,"

"Parasite,"

"Captain Cold,"

"Shade,"

"..and Sportsmaster."

He droned off the names of all the men, each nodding toward him as he spoke. All flown in from out of state that night, all costing a million and a half, but all so very worth it for the plans he had waiting. The Titans would never know what hit them, even the little traitor. She, he decided, he would finish himself. No...too easy. He'd take the changeling first. Make her watch while he did his bloody work.

Then he'd deliver the traitor's reward.

"Each of you is among the best in your field. All accomplished in tending to the superpowered flies in the ointment of men such as myself. Mr. Luthor himself recommended you personally, Mr. Martin and Mr. Jones." He nodded to Parasite and Atomic Skull. Both looked pleased to hear it, while he noted Sportsmaster rolling his eyes. "I've spent a great deal of money bringing you all here to Jump City."

"Yeah, we know. What's the initial bill? Nine million for jus' us showin' up for the first job?" Electrocutioner. Less tactful than others he'd met, but with the skill to make his involvement worthwhile. Slade turned to the black-and-red-clad mercenary, his good eye narrowed slightly.

"Correct. Considering the nature of the operation, there was no room to spare on expenditures. You all are here for one single purpose." At that, the mastermind leaned forward in his chair, bringing his full frame into the light. "The destruction of the Teen Titans, and the securing of the West Coast."

That earned a collective mutter from the gathered supers. Parasite was obviously intrigued, but the more conservative of the bunch, Sportsmaster and Electrocutioner especially, seemed hesitant. Shade was the first to speak.

"So its another frigging world-domination/revenge scheme. I've been there before, Slade. What makes you think you'll do any better than Luthor?" Slade had expected this sort of skepticism, it was why he'd chosen these men for this operation. He had no use for blind idiots anymore. "And even if pull a fast one on the Titans, beat those kids stupid and knock them out of the game forever, what's going to stop the League from coming in and saving the day as usual? Hell, they got Batman's old sidekick calling the shots with those kids. You think _he's _gonna just stand around and let us beat on him?"

"The Justice League will not be a concern. As I speak, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Flash, and the Martian Manhunter are deployed in another sector of the galaxy. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are still occupied with the remnants of the civil war in Kasnia. They will not be in any position to assist the Titans for some time. And when this operation is complete...neither will they be able to rescue the West Cost without endangering the entire population."

Most of them seemed placated, though obviously Shade was still looking a bit hesitant. Understandable, given his history.

"In addition to a hefty deposit into an account of your choosing, you will all be granted comfortable positions of power upon completion of your contracts. Do I still have your interest, gentlemen?"

There was a long pause. Then, from the far left side of the table, Parasite spoke, a grin on his purple face.

"I'm in, long as I get a shot at Supes after. Sure you can arrange that." One by one, the other men added their agreement to Slade's offer. He smiled under his mask.

This was the start on his road to victory, and the fulfillment of all his dreams.

**TTTTT**

"I can't freakin' believe it!" Gizmo shouted as loudly as he possibly could, hurling something that looked like a miniature car engine at Kid Wykkyd's head. The dark-clothed teen ducked just in time, and the engine dug a rather large hole in the drywall instead. See-More was still trying placate the little turd, as he had been for the last fifteen minutes. It was putting Mammoth on his last straw, and the thought of the burger waiting for him in the fridge was the only thing keeping him from breaking the midget's neck in two right then and there.

"A year of paying dues to that one-eyed prick and what does he do!? He cuts us loose, just like that! Says we ain't good enough for him anymore!"

Things had been going...poorly for the HIVE Five (Four now, who was he kidding), lately. There was the obvious slight from Slade that Gizmo was screaming about, as well as the fact they hadn't had a decent-paying score in months. Hell, they were down to sticking up yayo deals just to pay the landlord. Billy'd gotten pinched last week, too, and it didn't look like there'd be any getting him out if the rumors about him being transferred to Blackgate were true. Worst of all, Jynx was gone. She'd seen how far south they were going, and she'd quit while she still had some dignity. Last he heard she'd moved East, maybe even as far as Central City to find better work. The giant was convinced now she had the right idea. If they didn't get a decent score in soon, he'd quit and go find her, see if she needed some muscle.

"Well screw him! We don't need him for work!" Another tirade from Gizmo.

"Dude, we get it! You're angry, we all are! But you're jus' making the stress worse! We can't focus on a heist if we're all ready to have a stroke over this!" See-More was a nice guy, really, but he had no idea how to deal with Gizmo. There was no reasoning with him when he got like that. Not that Mammoth was in much mood to try and reason with the bald brat anyway. He shook his head in disgust as he opened up the fridge, feeling his mouth begin to water as he eyed the double-cheeseburger. A quick-reheat, and he'd be able to forget his troubles for a couple of minutes...

The door to their hideout opened, and something rolled into the room. Small, tubular, silver. The others were too engrossed in their argument to notice it roll along toward their feet, stopping a yard away from them. But Mammoth saw it, and he felt a surge of adrenaline course through him.

"FLASHBANG!"

Too late.

No matter how many times he'd been through it in training, how tightly he shut his eyes or cupped his hands over his ears, it still caused him agony and spots to appear before him. Still, he fared better than the others. They were all down, covering their eyes and screaming in pain, if his blurred vision and half-deafness were to be believed. He turned to the door in time to see the armed men storm in, rifles raised. The first salvo hit Kid Wykkyd square in the chest, sending him into a stuttering dance before he fell to the ground. He didn't move again. Mammoth didn't see any more as he felt a terribly sharp pain rip into his guts, followed by a thunderous boom.

The giant fell to the ground, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the linoleum. He was on his knees when he heard the footsteps, his hearing coming back in time to hear the screams and gunfire. He looked up into the face a balding, silver-haired middle-aged man in a black duster coat, an enormous rifle in his hand. Elephant gun. That was how they'd take him down with all his herculean strength and endurance. Professionals.

"Sorry, kid. Ain't nothin' personal. Boss decided you're a liability after that sour note ya left on. Can't leave nothin' to chance, eh?" He barely heard the thick Gotham accent, his vision starting to fill with blood as he gurgled on the mouthful of coppery liquid.

Ten seconds later, Mammoth and the HIVE Five were history.

**Whew. Finally. Feeling a certain, very intense satisfaction at having gotten this done at last. Or it could just be the three ciders, but I'm like 80% sure. Again, SOOOOO sorry for the incredibly long wait I put you guys through on this. I swear I'll update quicker from now on. Anyway, tell me what you guys thing, and as always, stay cool, folks.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Another chapter updated, and another step toward the long-awaited Chapter 5! Hope y'all enjoy, and as usual, I own nothing. Teen Titans belongs to DC and Cartoon Network.**

**Chapter 3**

_HIVE Five killed in gangland-style execution. Police have no suspects at this time._

Terra felt her blood run cold at that headline. The news said that there were no suspects, but she knew it was Slade's handiwork. He'd been going on about how tired he was of them and the other local muscle throughout her time with him, and the guys he'd brought in from Gotham were exactly the kind of thugs that would operate like this. She wouldn't be surprised if Cinderblock and Overload turned up dead soon, too. She'd have to pass that on to Robin so he could warn them, if Slade hadn't gotten to them yet. Even the bad guys didn't deserve to get gunned down like Sonny Corleone at the toll both.

She sighed and pulled on her shorts, tossing the paper aside and trying to focus on the day ahead. Robin had them all looking out for any sign of Slade's next move. She wished she'd listened more carefully to Slade now, or dug into his files to see what else he had planned. Anything to help the Titans.

"No. Nothing good would have come of sticking around with him longer." She told herself, shaking her head and starting toward the door. Unsurprisingly, Beast Boy and Starfire were waiting for her, both offering a smile. She smiled back, the three falling into step almost immediately.

"Morning, guys. Did...either of you get a chance to look at the news?" They both blinked and shook their heads. Starfire obviously like the tone in her voice.

"You sound as if the news is of sadness. What is wrong, friend Terra?" the alien girl asked with some concern. The geomancer sighed and looked over at the innocent heroine, trying her best to think of a way to explain it to her delicately.

"The...the HIVE guys...the ones that didn't get caught..someone..."

"Killed them all." A familiar voice spoke up. Terra jumped a bit before she realized it was just Raven, stepping out of her room, her eyes narrowed under that big hood of hers. Starfire's hands went over her mouth, and Beast Boy's eyes went wide, jaw agape. "Stormed their hideout with automatic weapons and grenades. Sounds like Gotham gangsters."

"Dude...all of them? Just...killed them like that?" The changeling looked as shocked as she had when she'd read it herself. Terra nodded solemnly.

"Yeah...guessing Slade didn't want any loose ends, or them giving Robin info out of spite." She paused a moment, look over them all before turning to Raven. "We should try to find Cinderblock and Overload when we get a chance. Warn them that Slade might come after them too, if he hasn't already." They all nodded in agreement, Starfire still looking shocked, though it was quickly being replaced with that same anger that she'd seen from the alien when she'd vowed to break Slade for manipulating the young blonde. Now Terra was really sure that Starfire wasn't just boasting for her friend's benefit that time. They were in the living room before Raven spoke up again, her eyes dangerous slits set firmly on the trio of her friends.

"Slade isn't even pretending to be playing nice anymore. We can't expect any kind of mercy from him, or write off anything as too far for him now. He's bringing in gangsters from Gotham and it sounds like he's hired a lot of superpowered mercenaries. We need to find out what he's planning."

Then, almost as if on cue, the alarm rang, and Robin's voice rang out from the hall.

"Titans, trouble!"

**TTTTT**

Opened a year prior, the STAR Labs Jump City Office had been created to house the most dangerous, sensitive, and secret scientific materials in North America. It had boasted numerous times that, unlike its counterpart in Metropolis, it would never fall victim to a break-in from the local criminal population. Its security systems were subject to weekly inspections upgrades, and its databases were constantly updated with the latest information on the city's superpowered residents, and security protocols were tailored to counter each known criminal's specific powers. Professor Hanna Carlson, head researcher of the facility, even went as far as to dare the HIVE Five to attempt a break-in, during which the security measures had proven more than sufficient to counter the intruders, leading to the arrest of Billy Numerous and one of the few instances in Jumpy City's recent history where the Teen Titans were actually turned away by security personnel upon their arrival, and later told that their intervention would never be necessary on STAR Labs property.

What the STAR Labs Jump City Office had not prepared for was the arrival of Slade's hand-picked team, armed with the layout of all the lab's security measures, courtesy of Calculator. The Titans arrived just as Electrocutioner was tossing the last of the security guards into one of the giant monitors in his office, looking not quite as impressive as the League, but still a sight that gave the criminal pause. The Boy Wonder's boomerang had missed his head by mere centimeters, and was now imbedded in the wall behind him. Sure, he'd done his homework, read every bit about the kids he could scrounge up on the flight over. Robin he knew already from previous experience, so he'd focused on the the others. Once he'd done some reading, he could see why he, Shade and Parasite had been picked for this team. They each had a power that was perfect for handling some of these little punk-ass kids. Atomic Skull, Sportsmaster and Captain Cold weren't so specialized towards handling one Titan in particular, but he figured Slade thought they were badass enough to be able to take them regardless.

"Didn't you guys learn from Killer Moth? Moving to Jump City doesn't mean easy pickings. It just means the Titans will be kicking your butts instead of the League." Robin, of course. Kid always was one for speeches. Electrocutioner just rolled his eyes. "Save yourselves a hospital stay and come quietly." The other Titans were gathered around him. From right to left, Cyborg, Raven, Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy and Terra. Those last two, he remembered, Slade wanted for himself later. He frowned at the memory of the cyclops' hate when he spoke about them.

He still had some reservations about hurting these kids too much. The big supers in the League were one thing. Those were some real badasses that he knew could take whatever punishment he could dish out. Robin and the others? He was a bad guy, the first to admit that,and he'd done plenty of terrible things in his line of work, but the idea of him going too far in the inevitable fight, if he struck one too hard or too much. If he actually killed a freaking teenager...

"_Remember the friggin' job, Lester." _He told himself, hands balling into fists and electricity cracking around his gauntlets. _"They're kids, but they're supers. They can take whatever you got."_

"Still the same as ever, Bird-Boy! Don't got Bats to bail you out now, though!" He shot back at the skinny hero, while Captain Cold just raised one of those freeze rays of his and fired straight at Robin. A slab of rock shot up to block the blast, freezing solid on the spot and bursting into ice crystals. The Titans scattered at that, coming at them at all angles. Good. Just like they wanted. The goons they'd brought would handle the heavy lifting and the loading in back while they dealt with the capes.

"You know your targets, boys! Get 'em and hit 'em hard!" It was Sportsmaster, charging straight for Robin. The others followed soon after, their chosen targets set firmly in each man's gaze. This was going to be a hell of a fight.

**TTTTT**

Despite the numbers being even here, Terra was scared. These weren't the HIVE Five, or Mumbo or Mad Mod or like anyone else that she'd fought with the Titans in her time in Jump City. These were real hardcases, guys that had fought the likes of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other big leaguers. They could take plenty,, and dish out even more. Atomic Skull was already leaping at her and landed on the slab of rock she was floating on, one meaty fist raised and swinging at her face. She ducked in time to keep it from hitting her square in the cheek, but she yelped out loud as two of his knuckles slammed into the top of her head, sending her reeling and rock tilting at an angle that set them both off balance. She kicked out as his gut as they started to fall, earning a grunt of pain from the skull-faced bruiser, but little more. She tore another slab from the ground and leaped on, flying away and sending the first at Skull at incredible speed. It struck home and sent him flying back into the wall. For a moment she thought she might have had him KO'd right then and there, but that hope was shattered when his fist came straight through the rock and crumbled it into dust.

She could see a man in dark purple and what looked like motocross pads, his face covered by a dark, featureless hockey mask that barely contained a thick crop of red hair, brawling with Robin. She guessed that was Sportsmaster, one she'd only heard about but never seen. He and Robin seemed evenly matched, trading punches and kicks so fast she could barely keep up. Not that she had the focus to do that anyway, with Atomic Skull baring down on her again. She collected herself and summoned up a shower of sharp stones, sending them straight at him with a cry and flash of yellow. He raised his arms to keep them from hitting his face, little gashes appearing on his skin, but still he kept coming. She hopped off the slab and hurled it at him as hard as she could, but he saw it coming this time, and batted it away with what looked like contempt.

"Trick don't work twice, sweety." He said, his voice surprisingly nasal coming from a face like that. The geomancer glared at him, eyes flashing again as she summoned up a huge chunk of stone behind Skull. He heard it, but he didn't move in time before she slammed it down toward him. It caught him in the chest, sending him to the ground in a great, grunting heap. She smiled as she kept him pinned under it.

"Its not my only one, though! Didn't see that coming, did you?" Terra grinned as she felt the fear starting to melt away. These guys weren't so tough. They could still beat them. Hell, she had this guy pinned, and if he looked like he was getting free she'd just have to stick more rocks on him. She turned for a moment to see how the others were doing.

She wished she hadn't.

Cyborg was being tossed around like a rag doll. Electrocutioner's gauntlets were screwing with his circuits really bad if the sparks that flew from his body were any indication. Her friend's body was stiffening as his systems were being short-circuited or overloaded or whatever the word for it was. Raven was trying to help him, rising up with her arms outstretched and those magic words on her lips.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The inky-black burst of energy was heading straight for Electrocutioner's back, hopefully enough of a distraction for Cyborg to get away long enough to let his systems get back in order. But the blackness changed direction sharply, then downward toward Shade's cane. The skinny crook was grinning and wagging his finger at Raven.

"Uh-uh-uh. The shadows are _mine._" It distracted Raven long enough for a blast from Captain Cold's ray to strike her in the back. It didn't take long for the ice to encase her completely, and Terra almost screamed her friend's name as she took her attention off the rock on Skull's chest for an instant to try raising another to take down Shade or Cold.

The instant was enough for Skull. With a roar, he stood and lifted the rock off of him, over his head and hurled it at Terra. Her attention still on helping Raven, she didn't notice it until it struck her in the side. She screamed as he hit the ground, rolling as she felt ribs crack and her flesh split. She started to push herself up, gritting her teeth through the pain she felt in her side and the blood trickling down toward her thigh and stomach. Skull was stalking towards her, while across from them she could see Parasite and Starfire. The purple giant's hands were around the alien's throat, her screams filling the room as he drained her.

"Nothing personal kid. But ya picked the wrong team." The fear came back in spades. She gathered as many stones as she could, preparing to hurl them at Atomic Skull, but knew that he'd reach her before she could hit him.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

**TTTTT**

Beast Boy was angrier than he'd ever been before. He ignored the blood from the gash in his forehead where Sportsmaster has slugged him, his body morphing into an enormous green gorilla with his meaty fists swinging straight at Atomic Skull. The supercriminal turned in time to face him, and he cried out as those ape fists smashed into his head. The side of his skull had visible cracks now, and he was struggling to to get to his feet. Beast Boy wouldn't have that. With a roar he slammed a fist into Skull's gut, and another into his face. He worked the chest and stomach, desperate to get him away from Terra. From the corner of his eye he saw Starfire's eyes flash bright green, and Parasite went flying as she kicked out with all her strength, slamming into the wall hard enough to send a shower of debris from the ceiling on his head. She was on him in an instant, pounding at his face with all the strength she had left.

Robin wasn't doing quite as well, looking dazed after Sportsmaster had delivered a solid kick at his leader's ribs. He was trying to reach for his utility belt, but that X-Games reject wasn't having any of it, seizing his hand and thigh, lifting Robin over his head and hurling him at Starfire. She was too busy beating on Parasite to notice, and they both went down in a heap.

Skull had taken the distraction to his full advantage. He caught one of Beast Boy's fists, then growled as he shoulder-checked the hulking ape onto the ground. The changeling's vision went white as he felt blows rain down on his face, chest and neck. He summoned all his willpower and morphed again. Skull was thrown back as the teenager expanded, growing until he stood nearly eight feet tall. Rhinoceros, blood still trickling down his face, but looking as enraged as when he'd fist hit him. He pawed at the ground twice before he charged, the giant horn lower to catch Skull full on.

He hadn't quite reached his enemy before he felt the star-bolts strike him in the side, sending him veering off-course and into the wall. Parasite was grinning wide as he hovered over everyone's head, eyes and fists flashing green as he worked up more energy to hurl at Beast Boy.

"Wonder how much've a bonus Slade'll pay out if we bring this one and the blondie to him. Seemed _real _eager to see them again." He laughed out loud, raising one hand to hurl the biggest star-bolt Beast Boy had ever seen.

Chance saved him from seeing how bad it would have hurt.

"That's it! The boys got the stuff loaded up! Let's get a move on!" It was Captain Cold, shouting and frantic, eager to get the hell out of here. Parasite looked hesitant, glaring first at Beast Boy and then at Terra, who was finally getting her footing back and working up a fresh wave of stones to hurl. "C'mon, Jones! We ain't got time to screw around anymore!"

Reluctantly, Parasite let the ball of energy dissipate, then turned to regroup with his retreating team. Beast Boy had gone back to his normal form, struggling to his feet as he watched Cyborg trying to aim his cannon-arm as best he could with his damaged systems. The rapidly-expanding wall of darkness from Shade's cane dashed any hopes of him hitting one of them as they ran, and soon the entire room was blackness.

**TTTTT**

It took ten minutes for everyone to recover enough to all be standing, with STAR Labs personnel scrambling to help them as best they could while security tried to lock things down. Robin swore as he clutched his bruised ribs with one hand and helping Cyborg to his feet with the other.

It had been a disaster. Broken bones, deep lacerations, concussions, Cyborg would have to be reboot a lot of his more complicated systems and Raven was still being thawed out. He couldn't believe how soundly beaten they'd been.

Slade had chosen his people perfectly. Electrocutioner to counter Cyborg, Shade for Raven, Parasite for Starfire and the others to deal with him, Terra and Beast Boy.

Those two were off in the corner, Terra's hand squeezing Beast Boy's as she pressed the cleanest cloth she could find against the cut on his forehead. Still clutching his side, he staggered over to them as quickly as he could, letting out a soft moan of pain before he slumped down beside them.

"So...Slade really isn't playing it safe anymore. He's stepping up his game quick." Terra looked up at him, looking as devastated as he'd ever seen her before.

"I'm sorry, Robin. I should have paid more attention to when he was talking. If I'd listened more, dug just a little into what he might have planned, I could have...I could have warned you about these guys." He put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head and looking her in the eye.

"This isn't your fault. You've done everything you could to help us." That seemed to lighten her mood just a little, but not much. Beast Boy gave her hand a squeeze, smiling as be he could through the pain.

"Heh...don't worry about it, Terra. We...well, we get our butts kicked a lot the first go with new bad guys, right? Means it'll be out turn to kick theirs next time." He laughed once, though it was obviously a bit painful to do so. Robin and Terra laughed along softly, as much as they could given their utter failure here.

"Excuse me. You're Robin, yes?" A female voice spoke, older and deep. They all looked up to see a tall, middle-aged woman in a lab coat. Her ID badge read 'Professor Carlson'. The lead researcher here. "I wanted to thank you for what you tried to do. I'm sorry that you and your friends were hurt trying to defend our work here."

"Don't thank us now, Professor. They got away with whatever it was they were here for." Robin said, voice firm and just a touch angry. He hated failure, more than anything else at this moment. Even more than Slade. He looked up sharply, eyes narrowed. "What exactly did they take?"

That gave Carlson pause. She hesitated a moment, seeming to weigh the consequences for a full ten seconds before she spoke again.

"It was supposed to be classified. Special order from someone above my pay-grade, shipped in from our labs in Metropolis. They took several canisters of Substance 1174/AA, though it isn't much good without the tanks it was built for."

"Tanks? Just what is this stuff they took?" It was Terra this time. Carlson sighed deeply, removing the thick-lensed glasses from her noses and cleaning them with the edge of her coat.

"Cloning tanks. 1174/AA is a growth acceleration agent, but like I said, without the tanks it may as well just be inedible orange juice."

"And what if they had the cloning tanks?" Terra shot back, eyes narrowed and fixed on the professor. "Just how quick does this stuff work?"

"Two weeks, maybe more depending on who or what exactly they're growing. But that's not a concern. The only people that ever made those cloning tanks workable was LexCorp, and there's only four of them left. They're all stored at the company hazardous materials vault, too." Robin shook his head in disbelief at the answer.

"And you trust LexCorp not to give those up to someone with enough money?" He spat out the company's name like it was poison. Even if Lex himself wasn't officially in charge anymore, they were still a bunch of corrupt crooks. That struck Carlson, if the sudden widening of her eyes was any indication. She took a step back, her voice suddenly taking on a nervous tone as she started away from the trio of teens.

"Excuse me...I need to make a call." She was gone seconds later. Beast Boy and Terra turned to look at Robin while stared at the ground, hands balled into fists. There was a long pause, the only sound coming from the lab personnel as they tried to get things in order and help the other Titans. Finaly, Robin broke the silence.

"So we know part of Slade's plan." He said, his voice grim and filled with renewed determination. "Now the question is who or what he's planning on cloning."

**TTTTT**

**I promised, and I delivered. Spent all night working on this one now that I've got some freedom again. Was a pleasure to finally write down a mostly action chapter, even if my fight scenes leave some room for improvement. I'll try and work on that as I go on. Thank y'all again for the wonderful feedback, and I'll try to keep this updated regularly. Til next time, read up and enjoy, and let me know what you guys think! Teen Titans and the DCAU forever!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello again, folks! Finally got the time to work on this again as the semester ends. Have to say, I've had some great fun with this story, and I'm thinking now that after its done I'll be continuing this AU into a whole series. Yes, the tie-ins to the DCAU will continue, as it seems that that's been a well-recieved idea. Already got a few ideas rolling around in my head for future stories. But those are for another day. Got to finish this bitch up first. And for the record, this story's taking place during the events of the Justice League episode "Hearts and Minds". Now, on with the story! As usual, I own dick. That's all DC Comics and Cartoon Network.**

**TTTTT**

**Chapter 4**

"_Beast Boy, if you knew something terrible about me, would you still be my friend?" The question struck Beast Boy like a bullet. Something terrible? About Terra? Sure, she'd caused a lot of incidents before, but those weren't her fault. She hadn't had full control of her powers, plenty of people out there had that same problem. But she was better now. What could she possibly be talking about?_

_She'd come to him around ten minutes ago, while he'd been trying to work up the courage to finally ask the question he'd been mulling over for over a week now. She was carrying her laptop, of all things, when he'd opened the door. She looked distressed, which caught him off guard again, and of course he'd let her in when she asked to talk to him. How could he say no to a girl like her?_

"_Of course. You can tell me anything, Terra." They were both seated on his bed now, and there was a long, awkward pause as she stared at her boots. Beast Boy slowly put a hand on hers, offering as comforting a look as he could. She smiled, if only for the briefest of moments, before she turned away from him, opening up the laptop. Beast Boy blinked as the screen flashed to life. It was...a chat log?_

"_Terra? What is this?" He was genuinely confused now. Terra turned to look at him, her eyes looking on the verge of tears. He couldn't help but let his hand move to her cheek to try and brush them away. Finally, she spoke._

"_Its the chat log between me and Slade. I've been working for him since the first time I ran away." She said it quickly, so she wouldn't regret it or change her mind. _

_Beast Boy was sure that the look of stunned disbelief on his face told Terra more than any words could. His hand didn't move form her cheek, but he stared at her in shock now instead of offering that comforting gaze he had before. The young blonde before him was obviously torn up inside by those words, the actions she had just admitted to. It took him half a minute to find the words._

"_Slade? You've been working for Slade?" Was all he could say. Terra struggled to keep eye contact with him, the shame evident on her face. Her voice was strangled as she spoke._

"_He found me after I ran...back at the mine, he promised that he could teach me, help me. Make it so that I finally have some control over this." She stared down at her gloved hands, turning away from Beast Boy as she felt the tears coming. "I was so stupid. I listened to him, and he taught me everything he knew about this stuff. And...he asked me to join you guys...get your trust, learn your secrets. I...I was supposed to send him the codes to shut off the tower's defense systems tonight."_

"_But you didn't." Beast Boy said it lowly, moving closer to Terra. He could see the pain she was in. All the guilt that had built up over the last few weeks, it was all coming out now. He put an arm around her, and almost immediately she fell against him. She was crying hard, and all he could do was hold her. _

"_I couldn't do it. You guys...you, Beast Boy...you're the best friends I've ever had. The only ones...the only ones that ever really cared about me, tried to really help me. And I was so ready to just throw it back in your face. I'm so sorry, Beast Boy." She meant it. He felt it in her body, heard it in her choked voice as she cried against his shoulder. And he felt for her. Not just because he was pretty sure he was in love with her, but because he knew kind of pain she was going through. So he just held her, comforting her as best he could._

"_Its okay, Terra. We're here for you. I'm...I'm here for you."_

Beast Boy woke up from the dream to the sight of Cyborg on one of the med-bay's beds. He was still out of it, most of his systems rebooting after the beating he'd taken from Electrocutioner. How long had it been since they got back to the tower? A few hours now, at least. It was almost 2 A.M., so he figured everyone else had to be asleep by now. Terra was still beside him, sound asleep on the small couch against the wall. Raven was still there, too. She was wide awake, right at Cyborg's side. Her hand was on his chest as she watched him. She looked ashamed, Beast Boy thought.

"Hey, Raven. How's he doing?" He said softly, not wanting to wake Terra after the beating they'd all taken. Raven didn't look up, instead just looking at Cyborg's still frame.

"I shouldn't have let Electrocutioner get close to him. I knew exactly what he could do to Cyborg and I let it happen." She droned, her hand unmoving as she watched over the unconscious young man. She'd been right in that spot when Beast Boy had gone to sleep. She really had some dedication to keep watch that long. He gave the empath a soft look.

"Dude, you were there. You saw how things went down, none of us could keep up. Shade had you beat the second you tried helping Cy, pretty sure it wouldn't have been much different if you'd tried hitting Electrocutioner a couple seconds earlier." Raven didn't respond, or show any sign that she'd heard him. "Its like you always say, you can't dwell on the past. Just gotta look forward. We'll kick their butts next time. We always do."

This time Raven did look up, though it didn't look like she found much relief in those words.

"This is different, Beast Boy. We underestimated them, and look how we paid for that. There aren't some punk teenagers with fancy training from a supervillain academy, or some D-lister that moved here because he can't hack it in Gotham or Metropolis. These are real hardcases, most of them have killed before. We can't afford to do that again or assume that things will go as usual." Her tone wasn't quite harsh, but it wasn't her usual stoic drone either. It made Beast Boy a bit nervous seeing her like that. Maybe getting knocked around like they had affected her more than he thought.

He felt Terra stir against him, and those baby blues opened slowly. He looked down at her and smiled softly.

"Heya, sleepy-head." She smiled back at him, nuzzling his chest once before she rose up to look at Cyborg. "He's still out of it. Not sure how long it'll be til he wakes up."

"Heh...not totally, BB." It was Cyborg, and everyone looked up sharply. His eye was open now, and he rose up slowly with a pained groan. Raven moved to help him immediately, her hands on his chest and shoulder to help him up. "About 89% done. Should be movin' again in a half hour."

"Knew you'd be back up soon, Cy. Nothing that can keep you down for long." Terra said with a yawn, then a wince as she felt one of the sore spots become irritated. Even with the Wayne Enterprises stuff they had in the med bay, they could only take away so much of the hurt after a fight like this. Terra blinked once, then looked around the room, fully awake now. "Where's Robin? He's usually here when one of us gets hurt bad."

"He left an hour ago. Said he was going to do some snooping. Starfire's in bed, before you ask." Raven responded, starting to finally relax a bit as she saw Cyborg start to sit up, trying to make himself a little more comfortable. The geomancer didn't seem to like that answer, a concerned look on her face.

"Should he really be out with his ribs banged up like that? Sportsmaster got him pretty good." Beast Boy shrugged a bit, moving his arm to give Terra room to sit up.

"Hey, you know him, Terra. If he decides he's gonna do something, not much anyone can do to stop him." Everyone seemed to agree with that, though they didn't look too thrilled at the idea of their friend going out to find trouble while he was still injured. Terra sighed deeply.

"Well, let's hope he doesn't get into too much action."

**TTTTT**

Slade smiled under his mask as he watched the goons rolling in the barrels of 1174/AA, Sportsmaster barking orders at them as he supervised the unloading. The operation had been a complete success, with every last drop of the material taken from the lab, and not a single casualty. He could see that his team was money well-spent, even with the disappointment of knowing the Titans had been left there at the scene. He'd hoped that the changeling could have been taken, so that he could start to exact his blood toll from his wayward apprentice. He'd have to take his time with the boy, when the time came, and make sure that Terra got plenty of pictures of the aftermath, maybe and ear or fingers as well, before he'd move on to her.

He'd have to remember to give the men the order to secure Beast Boy at the next opportunity. Parasite or Sportsmaster would have to be chosen specifically for that job, though. Some of his team still had something resembling a conscience, but not those two. Throw enough money at them, and they'd happily kill their own mother.

"Sir, got word from Metropolis." A gravelly, ugly voice came from behind him. Slade turned so that his eye was fixed on Deych, who stood as straight as he could before his new boss, still looking rather pleased himself for the raid on the HIVE Five. "Last of the tanks are on their way now. Should be here in a couple hours, Hangar 12 like ya said."

"Good. Send four to make sure that it arrives safely. This operation is too delicate to take any chances." He said, turning and starting toward the door to his office while Deych simply nodded, trying not to look insulted at being dismissed so abruptly. Slade imagined the paycheck that he gave the aging thug helped to heal his wounded pride. His smile grew under the mask, and he couldn't help chuckling as he mulled the news over in his head. One step closer to the fulfillment of his plans, and the satisfaction of the revenge he would take on the Titans only made the feeling of warmth in his chest all the better.

**TTTTT**

Frank Worowski liked Jump City, he thought as he took a slow drag on the San Francisco Sunlight between his lips, exhaling a pungent tobacco cloud. He liked the warm, sunny days and the cool nights, the short drive to the beach on his off days, the decent high school his son went to (The only one in the state that hadn't gone nuts with the liberal horseshit as far as he could tell), and the half-dozen smoke shops within walking distance of his apartment.

He also liked the constant supply of work for a man of his trade. Organized crime in Jump City hadn't left when those kids moved in; it had just gotten more organized. Sure, the Titans made life hard for the supers in the city, and busted plenty of big jobs from the regular crooks, but guys like him went pretty much unnoticed. He was just an enforcer, after all, and a gunman now and then when the pay was good enough. Why would they waste time on small-fry like him when they had all kinds of other crazy to keep them busy?

At least, that had been his thinking until he answer the call for muscle from Slade. He was still small-fry, but now he was working for something bigger than the families, and that meant he had to be more careful on his evening walks. He'd heard from the Gotham boys that Robin liked to hit up the muscle for information, and he'd heard about a few of the locals getting pinched when the super-crime was really slow. So he played it safe; sticking to bright, populated areas with plenty of witnesses, and never took shortcuts into alleys or some such jackassery. That was part of his reasoning for picking the complex he lived in, right next to the entertainment district. The noise he dealt with at night was worth the security it provided.

He made his last turn of the night, flicking the butt of his smoke into the road as he approached his complex with one hand dipping into his pocket for his keys. Philly would be asleep by now, probably slumped over a textbook, and he'd just smirk and shake his head as he got ready for bed himself. Always making dad proud, that one. He'd make something more of himself than his crook of an old man, that was for sure. As Frank started to slip the key inside the slot, he noticed that the handle was loose. Unlocked. Philly never left the door unlocked this late.

He was a big man, 6'2" and nearly 300 pounds, bald and bearded, and he'd been told before that he looked like frigging Bill Goldberg. If someone was in _his_ apartment, they were in for a hell of a surprise. Scowling, Frank reached into his suit jacket for the .45 in his shoulder holster, starting to open the door as slowly and quietly as he could. The kitchen and living room were clear. He stepped inside, his piece drawn as he walked in with surprisingly little noise for a man of his size.

"You're good at keeping a low profile, Frank." The voice was young, hard, and instantly recognizable with how often he'd heard it on the news. The giant gangster turned sharply, Colt raised and his finger moving to the trigger. Robin was faster, however, and the boomerang caught his gun hand before he could fire. Frank swore as he clutched his hand, scowling down at the scrawny Titan before him.

"Where's Philly? Swear to fuckin' Christ if you hurt my son-"

"Don't worry about him. I only gave him a light tranquilizer. Worry about yourself right now." Robin didn't sound the least bit worried, even when he was looking at a man that over twice his size. That more than anything, even more than the stories he'd heard from the Gotham boys and the news, frightened him. He'd seen more than enough of the aftermath of this kid's fights to know exactly how this was going to end if he decided to put up a struggle. Taking a deep breath, Frank relaxed his muscles, kicking his piece aside and putting his hands in the air.

"How the hell'd you find me?" He rumbled, looking around the appartment toward Philly's room. He could see his son slumped on the bed, unmoving, but breathing, thank God. At least that was one less worry.

"Your fingerprint was on one of the shell casings at the HIVE hit. Now talk. What's Slade's game here?" Robin said, his expression as hard as could be, and his tone made it perfectly clear how much it was going to hurt if he decided to play stupid here. Fuck it. He knew this day was coming sooner or later.

"Look, kid, I'm jus' muscle. All I know is he's been flyin' in a lot of cargo from back East. Metropolis an' Gotham." He paused for a moment, gauging Robin's reaction. He wasn't satisfied. Frank sighed deeply. "I dunno what's in the crates, but the last bunch he had flown in had Lex Corp logos all over it. An' they were friggin' huge."

"Where's the cargo being delivered?" Robin shot, looking ready to pull that staff of his and give him a good one across the kneecaps. The enforcer swore again, trying to keep as far away from Robin as he dared.

"He alternates. Always some dummy corporation's hangar. Sometimes he has 'em flown straight here, sometimes up from Los Angeles or San Francisco. One he's got here is Hangar 12. All I know, I swear." There was a long pause, the Titan leader frowning at him as he tried his best to look nonthreatening and compliant. Finally, Robin nodded.

"Don't bother running. The police will be here in about ten minutes. Your son will be awake soon, too. I'd say whatever you have to to him now." Was all he said as he started toward the window, onto the fire escape and then out of sight.

Frank could only sigh, swearing and slumping back against the wall. From his seated position, he saw Philly start to stir and murmur. A moment later his son began to rise, groaning and rubbing at the back of his neck, where Robin had no doubt stuck him with the knock-out juice.

"D-Dad? Is that you? Was...was that really Robin that..."

"Yeah...yeah, it was, kiddo." Frank's voice was soft now, subdued. "C'mere...sum'n I gotta tell ya..."

**TTTTT**

**And that about wraps up another chapter. Sorry for the lack of action through most of this story thus far, I swear it will come up again in the next one. Anyway, read and review and I hope y'all enjoyed it. Be good out there, people.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello again after a very long silence on my end. As I've gotten done with my finals and find myself with plenty of time to myself again, I've decided to get back on the horse and finally write up another chapter. I've also gone over the old chapters to sweep for spelling and grammar errors, fix it up nice and neat, and I've added a new scene to the prologue! Hopefully you all with find this worth the long wait. As usual, I own precisely dick. This is all DC and Cartoon Network.**

**Chapter 5**

"Jesus Christ, Jonesy, you're on the clock! Put that Goddamn thing out." Sharpes' harsh voice barked, startling the lanky little crook. Elijah Jones, Jonesy to his small circle of friends, had a few bad habits, and they'd worn steadily on the nerves of his employers; in this case, a few hits off a thin reefer of Gotham Groove to calm his nerves had set the older gangster off, and Jonesy swore as he tossed the weed aside, coughing as he tried his best to look professional after that embarrassing little display. The others, Eddie and Carmine, had a good laugh while they loaded the last of the huge Lex Corp crates into the delivery truck, and he could only grumble and heft his uzi, shuffling back to his spot outside the hangar. He was easily the smallest member of this crew, standing at roughly 5'5", his body thin and wirey, and his smooth, youthful face gave the impression of a kid straight out of high school, at least when he was off the clock.

He'd been with this crew for about a month now, and he was still unsure of the whole organized crime scene. Before, he'd just been a petty crook ripping off ATMs and making nickel-dime deals on what little grass he was willing to part with. Then Teddy had told him about a boss looking for extra guns for some big scheme, and when he heard that they were paying five hundred a week for just watching out for cargo at the airport, he couldn't say no. After the first week, he'd started to regret his hasty decision. It had turned out this wasn't just some ambitious mob boss trying to get a step ahead of the competition and the law; it was goddamn Slade himself calling the shots, and Jonesy had nearly soiled himself when he found that out. Was there even a word for just how in over his head he was?

Sharpes growled sourly and stomped off toward the driver's seat of the truck, slamming the door in frustration, and Jonesy did his best to avert his eyes. Hopefully Carmine or Eddie would be willing to swap places with him in the back so didn't have to endure the shame of riding up front with the vet. He wondered just what the hell they were moving if the needed four guys with SMGs and shotguns to guard it. It wasn't like the cops would search this hangar, since it was just one in a long list of buildings signed under a seemingly never-ending series of dummy corporations. How would they even guess this place was Slade's?

There was a sudden thud on the roof, and Jonesy's head snapped up at the sound. Everyone else looked up too, guns in hand and ready for anything. Nobody was going to fire until they were damn sure these was trouble, with airport security only a stone's throw away. They stared up for a long moment, not moving as the silence after the initial sound went on. Eddie was the first to lower his piece, letting the shotgun barrel rest at hip-level before Carmine joined him. Jonesy had started to do the same, but almost the second he did, he felt the worst pain he'd ever experienced in his life shoot through his jaw. He'd been hit with something hard and metal, and he felt teeth rolling around in his mouth. It hung open, obviously broken as he howled in agony, the sound drowned out by gunfire. The last thing he saw before he began to black out from the pain was a flash of red, yellow and green. He thought of Boy George, for some reason.

**TTTTT**

The security was about what Robin had expected. He'd gotten the first of the goons by surprise, putting him out of the fight with the first swing of his staff. The other two had reacted almost instantaneously, buckshot and 9mm bullets filling the air. He danced around them, rolling and weaving as fast as they could aim. The shotguner, a burly balding man with pig-like eyes, tried to play it smart, firing his 12 gauge ahead of his friend's shots, trying to catch Robin where he thought he would dodge. It was a good effort, but it wasn't near good enough to beat the boy wonder. A boomerang in the barrel ended the big man's effort, and he screamed as the shotgun's barrel burst in his hand when he squeezed the trigger on reflex. It distracted the other gunman long enough for Robin to close in, thrusting the end of the staff into the man's gut and knocking all the wind out of him. The second blow across the side of his head sent him sprawling to the ground. The shotguner was all that was left, and he'd dropped the remains of his weapon, a pearl-handled stiletto in his hand now.

"Really?" Robin asked with a slight smirk to his lips. The goon scowled at him for a long moment, looking like he was going to make a lunge with that blade. Then, it seemed reason won out, and he almost sheepishly pocketed the knife before he started to back away. Robin couldn't help but smirk. Maybe some gangsters weren't as dumb as they looked.

The moment of humor didn't last very long, though as the truck roared to life and started to back out of the hangar as fast as the driver could manage, and Robin had to dive out of the way to keep from being run over as it came speeding toward him. The shotgunner bolted for the passenger's side then, almost ripping the door open and leaping inside. Robin hissed as he saw the truck turning to flee, and knowing he wasn't going to catch up with it, all he could do was reach into his utility belt and reach for a tracker. He hurled it at the escaping goons, and smiled with satisfaction as he saw the device clamp onto the bumper. Even if he couldn't tail them now, he'd be able to follow them. They were out of sight a moment later, and Robin frowned as he turned his attention toward the two goons that had been left behind. The one with the broken jaw wouldn't be of much help for obvious reasons, but the second could still talk. He was starting to come to when Robin knelt beside him, and when he saw the Titan's eyes narrowed right at him, he swore and started to reach for his gun. A quick smack across the forearm with the end of his staff put an end to that thought.

"Your friends. Where are they taking that tank?" Robin demanded in as harsh and commanding a voice as he could muster. Even with the tracker, it was no guarantee that they would lead him to their hideout. It wouldn't be the first time someone had been smart enough to stop and sweep for bugs after a fight with him. The thug growled and spat, nursing his arm as he glared back at him.

"Eat me. I ain't saying shit." The Titan leader sighed, standing and grabbing the man by the back of his leather jacket. He tried to resist, but it was difficult with only one arm, and the threat of another good whack with that staff was enough to stay the good one from doing anything too hasty.

"Propeller or the forklift?" Robin asked almost casually. The thug blinked once, then stared straight up at him.

"W-what?" There was a squeak to his voice.

"Propeller or the forklift? Your choice in how we do this." He could practically hear his victim trying to keep his bladder and bowels from releasing now.

"W-wa-wait! Stop you friggin' psycho! I don't know where they take the goddamn trucks, I ride in the back an' watch the door here! They don't let me see the route!" Robin listened to his tone, the pitch in the goon's voice, his breathing. He was telling the truth. He released the man's collar, then without a word snapped a pair of handcuffs around his wrists. As he started to cuff the second one, who was now whimpering and crying pathetically on the ground, he heard the other's voice shouting back at him.

"You better friggin' hope you catch Slade before he gets to your lil' green friend! The shit he says he's gonna do to him, man!" He stopped, and turned sharply back at the goon with eyes narrowed and his hands balling into fists.

"What are you talking about? Why does Slade want Beast Boy?" Robin snarled, getting into the man's face, the sharp end of one boomerang now pressing against the man's throat. He swallowed hard, but looked back at the teen with defiance in his eyes.

"He's offerin' fifty grand to whoever brings his sorry ass in alive. Guess he figures it's his fault Terra left. He's gonna get his money's worth outta that turd's hide, and he's gonna make sure Terra knows about every lil' detail." And then the goon laughed, loud and malevolent. Robin's teeth gritted hard, and with one last snarl of rage he backhanded the cuffed man to the ground. Retracting his staff, he stomped out the hangar with his communicator in hand.

"Titans, this is Robin. In the living room, wait for me. We all need to talk."

**TTTTT**

"He wants Beast Boy?" Terra asked with wide eyes, one hand gripping the arm of the couch as tightly as the should could, while the other held the changeling's. Everyone else looked roughly the same, save Raven who bore her usual frowning gloom. Robin stood in front of them, arms crossed and his eyes shifting between his team, stopping on Beast Boy and Terra, nodding in answer to her question.

"That's what that thug said. Slade's figured that it's him that made you decide to stay with us. He's going to want to make an example. Fifty thousand to whoever brings him in." All of the Titans were chilled at those words, though they couldn't say they were surprised. Terra continued to stare at him, the look on her face one of horror mixed with a trace of anger. Robin knew well what those two felt for each other, and he couldn't blame her for her reaction. "I'm not going to allow anyone on my team to be put in any more danger than necessary. From now on, Beast Boy's not going to be left alone out there. If we have to split up for any reason, it's groups of two."

His tone left no room for argument, and it seemed no one was in the mood to disagree, anyway. Beast Boy looked for a moment like he wanted to protest, but he quickly let it drop. Much as he might value his pride, he knew that Robin was right, and he had no desire to make Terra worry about him being kidnapped by Slade for torture or whatever else that maniac had planned. Robin looked at all of them again, then raised a hand to dismiss the team.

"I need to talk to you, Terra. Alone." Terra stopped, looking back at him with unsurprised. She gave Beast Boy a soft smile and a peck on the cheek before he left a bit reluctantly. A moment later they were alone, neither looking the other in the eye.

"He's doing it to get at me, isn't he?" Terra broke the silence, looking up at Robin. She still had some of that fear in her eyes, but the rest of her face was starting to contort with anger. Robin nodded.

"He tried the same thing with me. He infected the others with nanobots, threatened to kill them if I didn't follow him." He kept his gaze steady, though his expression softened just a bit. "We're going to stop him. Don't let him intimidate you like he did me." There was another long silence, and again Terra was the one to break it.

"I don't want Beast Boy hurt because of me, especially after what I was so ready to do to you guys. Maybe I should just leave, let Slade chase me for a while." Robin stopped her right then, one hand closing around her shoulder and forcing her to look him in the eye.

"That's out of the question. You're a Titan and I won't have one of my team putting themselves in that kind of danger, no matter what the reason." The words struck the geomancer like a ton of bricks. She looked at Robin, how he looked at her. It was a brotherly gaze, fierce and unshakeable. A look she hadn't seen since the last time Brion had been around. She nodded, now ashamed she'd even contemplated that idea. Sure it _might _have distracted Slade from the rest of the Titans, but what would it do for them to see her disappear on them again? It would have broken BB's heart.

"Alright. Sticking to kicking his ass, then." The both smirked at that, and she felt her leader give her shoulder a squeeze.

"Good. Keep up that attitude. We're going to need it." And then he was gone, leaving Terra alone in the living room. Her gaze turned over toward the giant windows, the view of the cityscape before her. Slade and his gang were out there somewhere, waiting for their time to make their next move. Her hands balled, and she felt her lip pull into a frown. No more running from her troubles. She was going to face whatever came her way with her friends. She was claiming her own place in life.

**TTTTT**

"Only two lost, then?" Slade asked, Sharpes and the last man, Carmine he thought his name was, standing before him, still shaken by their close encounter with Robin. Sharpes nodded, trying his best to look composed before his employer.

"Just a coupla the new guys. Nobody important or that knows where this place is. Ditched the tracker bird-boy stuck on the truck too." Slade looked approvingly at his underling's thoroughness. Of course he'd worked long enough in Gotham to know the Bat-family's tricks, especially the ones that could compromise the entire operation. Rising from his chair, he beckoned the two gangsters to follow him, and they did so without hesitation. Several others were moving the last of the cloning tanks in with the rest, the other ten already filled with 1174/AA and growing their specimens. Ten days was all he would need to buy, and then he would have total control over this city. For now, though, there was other work to be done.

"We still have business to tend to before the final stage can begin. For now we lay low. Relax, but keep your lips tight, and be prepared to act on a moment's notice." Sharpes and the other were all too happy to comply with that order, having been working almost non-stop on this operation for over a week now. "Before you go, Sharpes, tell Shade, Parasite and Sportsmaster to be ready for a...special assignment very soon. I need them to tend to a more personal mater." His left hand grunted in acknowledgment of the order, immediately pulling out his cellphone and striking the speed-dial.

Slade looked into one of the tanks, at the tiny, infant face floating in the orange growth accelerant. The subject inside was already the size of an eight month old child, and by the end of the week it would probably be a teenager. Its features were a perfect match of it's template's at that age, and the mastermind couldn't help the satisfied smile that crossed his lips at that sight. If they fought as well as the real thing, then neither the Teen Titans or the Justice League would be able to stop him. He'd have his own little fiefdom in the palm of his hands, and an army to keep it there, and perhaps even the rest of the United States if he started to cultivate even greater ambitions. But that was for another time; the present plant was big enough, and he'd seen more than enough times the dangers of overreaching in these kinds of schemes. Of course, back then he'd been the hired muscle. Now, he was the one calling the shots, and he'd learned well from the mistakes of his former employers.

For now, though, it was time to sit back and relax for a short time. After all, his boys had some growing up to do, and it wouldn't do in the slightest to introduce them to the Titans before they were in prime shape. He'd enjoy the sight of their blood on the pavement, and their heads on his wall.


	7. Chapter 6

**Well, still hooked on DC Universe Online, so I'm in the mood to get a good roll on with this story. Hopefully it'll get some more attention soon, and I appreciate everyone that's read it so far and I'm happy to get any feedback. Enjoy, folks! Teen Titans in the property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network, as you know. **

**Chapter 6**

Four days had passed since the last incident at the airport, and the Titans had found things uncomfortably quiet. Slade hadn't moved since the attack on STAR Labs, and a brief fight with Mumbo had been the only action they'd seen. Robin had managed to find Cinderblock, warning the monster about what had happened to the HIVE Five. Cinderblock was in hiding now, but there was no sign of Overload. That hadn't boded well for any of the heroes, and it renewed their desire to put an end to whatever plot it was Slade had.

At the moment, however, they were enjoying the brief respite. Starfire was grinning ear to ear as she drank happily from a brand new bottle of mustard. The tangy topping always brought her joy in her times of sadness, and with the events of the last few weeks, it was certainly needed. She was alone in the living room right now, the others off on their own business. She wasn't sure where Cyborg and Raven were, but she knew Robin was locked in his room again going over case notes, and Beast Boy and Terra had gone off into town on a...what did the Humans call it here? The number they used to track the day of the year? Humans were such a strange species.

Looking out at Jump City, she couldn't help marveling at the cityscape as he took another drink from the mustard. Humans. They were were strange, sometimes cruel beyond measure, but she had seen promise in them. Once, when she had met Kal-El, he had told her his father had said of them, "They can be a great people, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way." That was what the Teen Titans, the Justice League, all the other heroes were, she thought; the light to show Humanity the path. But Slade, and those like him were a shadow desperate to drown out that light, to make the Humans blind. Now he was threatening one of her friends, all because Terra would not be made blind like he wanted. It made her hate him all the more when she thought of it, and her eyes started to flash bright green as anger started to boil in her veins.

She decided it was time to get a little fresh air. Sucking down the last of her drink, she dropped the bottle in the trash and headed for the door. She pushed down the feelings of anger enough to fly, enjoying the hot summer air in her face as she soared over the city. Citizens waved at her with bright smiles, and she smiled right on back, waving cheerfully. It was always good to see the people she was fighting for, to memorize their faces. Sometimes they asked for her name on pictures of her or the Titans. She didn't really understand the point of them, but it was a simple enough request that she could humor them.

And then her communicator rang to life. It was time to go to work.

**TTTTT **

"I'm from Markovia. It's a little country in Europe, kind of like Kasnia, but...well, it's just as crazy, really." Terra said as she almost absently pushed around the shaped mass of mashed potatoes in front of her, Beast Boy paying rapt attention to her story. They were in her favorite diner now, the owner having been kind enough to save the corner booth for them so that they could have some privacy, which she was definitely glad for now.. He was the first person she'd told it to, for good reason. She trusted him with her life, though, and after all that had happened, how could she not trust the boy she loved enough to tell him about it? Honesty was in some desperate need here. "I lived there until I was fourteen. I spent most of my life being looked after by Dr. Jace. She...I don't know, she was cold, like she didn't really care about me much. Like I was a lab rat. Guess I was, really. She was the one that gave me this." She looked down at her gloved hands, her face starting to slacken with the memories flooding back.

"Why'd you have to leave?" Beast Boy asked, his face also looking like he had some bad times coming back in his head. She remembered what little he'd told her about his parents before, and how he'd gotten his powers. She guessed superpowers must always come with baggage. Terra mulled over that question for a bit, chewing quietly absently at her veggie-burger (she'd promised herself never to eat meat in front of Beast Boy) before she spoke again.

"Because I'm the king's daughter, but...not the queen's." There was an unmistakable sense of old shame in her voice when she admitted that, and she cursed herself for letting it get the better of her again. She hadn't chosen her parents, after all.

"Dude...you're a princess?" Was the first thing out his mouth, taken completely by surprise by that declaration. Then it turned to confusion on his face. "But...how's that? If you're the king's daughter, how could you not be the qu...oh. Oh." He realized it a moment later, and his cheeks went a dark green. She blushed too, her face turned down slightly.

"Yeah. Dad was able to keep it secret for a while, but after I turned fourteen some of the guards at the lab started to notice I looked a little bit like him. People started asking questions, and if anyone put two and two together, it would be a big embarrassment for the royal family. My bro...half-brother, Brion told them that there was no way in hell he would let them just sweep me away like some dirty little secret. He cared about me, didn't matter to him that I wasn't totally his family." For a moment she smiled, remembering her older brother's face, always warm and friendly. It was gone in an instant, though. "Finally the queen started talking to someone about about killing me. Dad put me on the first plane to America they could find. Fake passport, paperwork, he even bribed someone at the embassy to register me as an American citizen."

Beast Boy looked appalled.

"How could they just throw you away like that? That's...that's so messed up!" He declared angrily then, banging his hands on the table and rattling the plates and utensils. The other customers turned to look back at them, and slowly they both started to shrink back a bit.

"Sorry." They said almost in unison. The customers seemed to lose interest fairly quickly after that. They sat in awkward silence for a moment, neither touching their food. Finally after a full minute, Beast Boy spoke.

"I swear I'll never abandon you like that. Not for anything." He reached out to take her hand, squeezing it. They smiled at each other warmly. "I love you, Terra."

Their communicators went off the second after he'd said that.

**TTTTT**

"Titans, we've got three break-ins all over town. Starfire, Beast Boy, Terra, Stagg Industries. Raven, Cyborg, the diamond mine. I'll get the last one myself." Robin's voice came clearly over Calculator's speakers, and the information broker chuckled as his fingers flew over the keyboard to bring up his Slade's team on his own private channel. Setting off the alarms remotely had been an almost insultingly easy task, and it had gone off like a charm. Now, though, the real fun was about to begin.

"Alright gentlemen, time to earn our paychecks." He spoke into his mic, knowing all of the super crooks would hear him loud and clear. "Parasite, Sportsmaster, go ahead and meet our little friends at the Stagg building. The rest of you go keep the others busy at the mine. We'll let our dear Dark Knight Junior chase his tail for a while."

He got acknowledgments all around, and when he saw the team leaping to work from the top of the warehouse, he couldn't help grinning as he leaned back in his chair to watch the security and traffic feeds. He only wished he had popcorn and a beer for this show.

**TTTTT**

"What do you mean there's no problem?" Raven asked sternly of the security guard, who could only shrug in bafflement as the alarm blared around them.

"I got no idea. It just started going off about ten minutes ago. We can't find any security breach." He rumbled, a grossly fat man with grease stains down the front of his shirt. Both of the Titans paused, looking at each other, then around at the mine, the workers slowly shuffling back to work now that security was sure it had been a false alarm. A brief from Cyborg's sensors and a mental sweep of Raven's had confirmed there was no intrusion anywhere inside. The thought hit Cyborg suddenly, and he grit his teeth as he prepped his arm canon.

"Because there hasn't been one yet." He said lowly, his good eye narrowing as he turned sharply. The three supervillains were waiting where they'd come in. Atomic Skull, Electrocutioner, and Captain Cold.

"Good guess. Afraid you're a bit too slow at it, though." Cold said, raising one of his freeze guns and firing at Cyborg. He rolled out of the way, jagged ice forming where he'd been, and he fired his own cannon back. Cold wasn't so quick, and screamed as he was taken off his feet by the blast. The others came charging, Electrocutioner toward Cyborg and Atomic Skull for Raven. Cyborg was ready this time, ducking under Electrocutioner's first few swings, countering with a hard uppercut of his own that caught the black-and-red-clad crook squarely in the jaw. He watched him fly backward, landing on back in a grunting heap, then staggering to his feet. No way in hell was he letting that guy get close to him again. He brought his cannon-arm around again and fired, Electrocutioner barely rolling out of the way of the blast, now on the defensive.

Raven wasn't quite as lucky, force don her own defense as Atomic Skull smashed down at the barrier she'd erected in front of her, the solid black wall already starting to crack as her will began to shake. Frowning with concentration, she broke the barrier suddenly while Skull was bringing his fists down again, putting him off balance.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos!" She cried out, thrusting out both hands and sending the black tendril of energy out at Skull, slamming him hard into the wall of the pit. She summoned another, and sent it straight toward Electrocutioner as she saw him swinging at Cyborg again. It changed direction sharply half-way to him, and she turned to see Shade stepping out his hiding spot behind some of the mining equipment, grinning wide. She didn't see Skull until he'd sent her flying with a haymaker. The half-demon crashed into one of the mining cards hard, and she felt ribs crack. Cyborg saw it, and bolted away from Electrocutioner to charge Skull. The big man hadn't seen the teen coming at him, and cried out as they crashed together. With a roar, Cyborg wrapped his arms around Atomic Skull and hurled him hard. Shade barely had time to duck away from his flying compatriot, and he cursed under his breath. Then his eyes bulged as Cyborg came straight for him, and he soon found himself rolling across the ground, the Nightstick bouncing free of his hand. The largest of the Titans reached down and seized that infernal little tool, and with a smirk broke it in half over his knee.

"I knew this wasn't gonna work." Shade lamented, scrambling away from Cyborg. "Goddamn Injustice Gang never works."

"What's Slade got you here for? He need more diamonds for a death ray or something?" Cyborg demanded, stomping toward the retreating thief. Shade was panicked now, seeing no way out of his predicament. "What are you here to steal?"

"Who says we came to steal anything?" Came the hoarse snarl, and the Cyborg turned in time to see Electrocutioner's fist smash into his chest, sparks flying as he felt his systems take a massive shock. He felt another blow across his cheek, and then another to his jaw, being driven back by the solid beating. And then he was totally still, his lower torso encased in ice. He could now only move his left arm, growling as he tried to break out of the ice. Captain Cold was back on his feet, aiming his gun squarely at him again. He could see Atomic Skull up and about again, pinning Raven down with a foot on her throat.

Then they paused, apparently hearing someone talking on the earpieces they were all wearing. They all nodded and Atomic Skull lifted his foot off of Raven's neck, leaving her gasping for air.

"Clear out. We gotta get back to base now."Skull shouted, and the others were all too eager to obey that order. Cyborg couldn't do anything, stuck as he was, only watch as Slade's team started making their escape.

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos!" Raven gasped, her right hand extended toward Shade, who suddenly found himself encased in a cage of the dark Titan's magic energies. He was beating on one of the walls, crying out for his team to come back and save him. They either didn't hear him or didn't care enough to bail him out of that mess. Raven rose shakily, glaring at her captive."Don't bother...my will's stronger than yours. Slade. What was his plan here?"

"You haven't figured it out yet? There wasn't any plan in this shithole! This was a distraction!" Shade shouted back at her with as much defiance as he dared call up, huddling into one corner of the dark cage. Raven scowled, starting toward him with eyes beginning to blaze.

"Why? What were you distracting us from?" The answer hit both of the Titan's at about the same time, and their eyes went wide. It was Cyborg that put words to their horror.

"Oh no..."

**TTTTT**

Terra screamed. She screamed louder than she ever thought she could as agony coursed through her body and the life drained out of her. Parasite's hand was wrapped around her throat, and he laughed with malicious glee as he sucked her dry. They had been taken completely by surprise when they'd arrived; no sign of trouble and the people at the Stagg building were just as baffled as they were at the alarm. None of them had expected an attack from behind.

Starfire laid in a crumbled, moaning heap in a corner under broken machinery, having been the focus of Parasite's first attack while Sportsmaster had taken Beast Boy and her in the confusion. The flail had knocked her senseless, leaving Sportsmaster alone with BB. What few images she could see clearly told her that the fight had been brutal, and that her boyfriend had been on the losing end. The last sight she'd seen before Parasite had gotten to her was a green baboon being hurled across the room and into a technician's desk, shifting back into Beast Boy's normal form. She'd tried to call out to him, pull him away on a flying rock, anything to help him, but the purple monster holding her up made that impossible.

"Hurry up and finish with her, Jones! If Slade's paying fifty k for this one, figure what he'll shell for both of them!" She heard Sportsmaster shouting, hoisting an unconscious Beast Boy over his shoulder. Terra's eyes went wide at that, and then they hardened suddenly as a new wave of determination surge in her. Though she couldn't work up the energy to call up her powers, she was able to get one foot swinging back with as much momentum as she could get, and then back at Parasite. There were many reasons she wore boots instead of shoes or high heels, and one of them was made evident when Parasite screamed nearly as loud as she had before. His grip on her neck released, his hands now locked around the source of his horrendous pain. Sportsmaster stared at the sight for a long moment, probably in open-mouthed shock under that black mask.

Slowly, Parasite began to rise while Terra scrambled away, trying to muster up the energy to call on her powers. He was snarling at her, his own eyes starting to flash yellow and a slab of rock ripping out of the ground, the sharpest end pointed at her chest.

"You're gonna pay for that you little shit..." He hadn't noticed the boomerang flying toward him until it had hit his chest, and then exploded. Terra watched him fly backwards, yelping and rolling back away from her. She looked back and saw Robin, standing at the doorway the two supervillains had come in, his face set in a mask of rage she had never seen before.

"Leave them alone." The words were low and almost an animal snarl. Parasite was back on his feet, shaking on his legs while he started to pull up more stone spears. Starfire was rising as well, her eyes glowing bright green and star-bolts forming in her hands.

"Jones, leave her! We got the one we wanted!" Sportsmaster shouted, already starting to retreat. Parasite hesitated, starting to back away from the three Titans while seeming to not have ruled out fighting as an option. Finally self-preservation won out, and he brought both hands up, a solid wall of rock bursting upward with the movement, blocking the heroes' pursuit. Starfire, now back to full consciousness, screamed toward the wall, punching and hurling bolts at it as hard and fast as she could. It was too slow, however, and so Terra called on the last of her strength to break that wall herself, crying out with the effort. Finally, the wall collapsed into dust, and she collapsed, Robin immediately at her side to help her. When she looked up, toward where the barricade had been, both of the villains were gone. So was Beast Boy.

"They took him." She whispered, her vision starting to fade. "They took him,"


	8. Chapter 7

**Hello again, folks! Continuing right along while I'm still inspired, here's another brand new chapter for y'all! Beast Boy's in big trouble now; will he get out of it alive? As usual, I own nothing. Teen Titans is property of DC and Cartoon Network.**

**Chapter 7**

The first thing Beast Boy felt after he regained consciousness was the stinging backhand across his face. His bottom lip had split with force of it, and he felt hot blood ticking down his chin. His whole mouth tasted like copper. When his eyes were able to focus, the dark hockey mask and mop of red hair were right in front of him, the man's eyes narrowed and glowering.

"Wake up, kid. Boss needs you focused for this part." Sportsmaster growled with contempt, practically

spitting the words out as looked down at the pathetic sight before him. Beast Boy looked up at him slowly, his own eyes full of defiance. He spat blood in the supervillain's face, and he tried to pull his hands up. They wouldn't budge, and when he looked down he saw that his hands and feet were tied to a wooden chair with leather straps. Classic bad guy stuff. Sportsmaster just scowled down at him, wiping the blood off his mask with the back of his hand. He gave the changeling another backhand in exchange for the slight.

"Enough. I don't want him too badly damaged before I start." Came that deep, smooth voice that Beast Boy knew all too well. Slade stepped out from the doorway into the tiny room with Parasite and a pair of regular goons behind him. He tried to change, willing himself to become something big; a tyrannosaur or a bear, something that could break out of this chair and stomp these guys into next week. Nothing happened. "Don't bother, boy. The drugs I've pumped into you will be keeping you in that form. I can't have any...surprises, now can I?"

"Do whatever you want, Slade. I'm not telling you anything, or helping you get Terra." Beast Boy shouted defiantly, staring right at the man's one good eye. "She's never going to be your apprentice. She's a Titan now and forever."

"I believe you." Then Slade leaned in, so that he was face-to-face with the youngest Titan. "I don't want either, though. I just want you to suffer." He drew back then, and Beast Boy saw that the goons were setting up a camera on a tripod now. Parasite was grinning wide, barely able to keep his glee under control, and Sportsmaster just stood stoic as could be opposite the purple man.

"Do your worst, dude. You're going down no matter what happens. The others are gonna-" His sentence ended then, a scream on his lips as a long, serrated knife flashed into Slade's hand and ran across his slim chest. Green flesh was quickly turned bright red as the blood ran down from the shallow but agonizing slash, and the boy's hands gripped the arms of the chair tightly. Slade looked with some approval at his first bite, and slowly he reached out to seize Beast Boy by the hair, forcing him to look him the eye again.

"We're going to be very busy for the next few days. You're going to die here, and it's going to be _very _slow." Another jerk of his head upwards, and he grit his teeth at the sharp pain from both it and the wound in his chest. "And when I'm finally tired of hearing you scream, I'll end it as painfully as I can. I'm going to make Terra watch every second of the recordings. I'm going to let her realize just how much her defiance has cost her. All because she chose some pathetic little boy over greater power than she could have ever imagined. Only then will she have my permission to die."

Beast Boy looked straight at the one-eyed man, his hands gripping the chair so hard that his knuckled turned white.

"You're not going to hurt her again! I won't let you!" Slade laughed at that, cold and vicious. The others in the room joined in as another goon walked into the room, wheeling in a metal cart. It was full of surgical instruments and power tools. Slade picked out a drill from the selection, testing the battery briefly with a mechanical whirl.

"We'll see, dear boy. We'll see."

**TTTTT**

"I told you before, I'm not saying anything. I'll take a cell over getting shanked by whatever mug Slade's got in here." Shade said stubbornly for the fourth time that day, much to Robin's annoyance. The two were in an interrogation room at the prison, the other Titans waiting outside and occasionally looking inside through the window. They'd been at it for an hour now, and they hadn't gotten anywhere with the scrawny crook.

"Shade, Beast Boy's life is at stake here. One of _my team._ Get some sense in that thick skull of yours and talk." Robin said, pushing a chair aside and starting toward the Shade, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pushing him up against the wall. "You don't want to know what I can do to you before security gets in here. If they decide you're even worth the effort of coming to help."

Shade...wasn't impressed.

"Please. You might have been damn near raised by that creepy bastard, but you aren't Batman. I know you. What you can do's nothing compared to what Slade'll to do me if I say a word to you." They stared at each other for a long moment, Robin full of rage at Slade and the man before him, and Shade in defiant self-preservation. Finally, Robin let go of the man, turning sharply toward the door.

"Guard!" He shouted, signaling the uniformed man outside with the others that the interrogation was over. He'd started to open the door when Terra had stormed in past both him and Robin straight toward Shade. If Robin had been angry, then the blonde geomancer was a towering fury, her eyes starting to glow bright yellow. Before either the other Titan or the guard could stop her, she'd reached the captured villain, who looked mildly amused now.

"What, gonna give me the whole 'Hell hath no fury' bit?" He asked with utter contempt in his voice. Terra didn't answer, and suddenly the whole room began to shake as a solid wall of rock shot up sharply from the floor, blocking off the two of them from the guard and other Titans. The amusement was suddenly gone from Shade's face.

"Your crew took Beast Boy. My friend! You know exactly where they took him, and you're going to tell me NOW!" She shouted the last word at the top of her lungs as a thin slice of rock broke off from the barrier she'd erected, willed into the shape of a javelin. She didn't hesitate before she hurled it straight at Shade and drove it into his shoulder and into the brick wall. Shade screamed in pain as he was pinned to the wall, drowning out the protests and pleas from the others.

"I-I can't! He'll kill me!"

"What makes you think I won't!? Where is Slade hiding!?" Another sliver of rock came off the wall, this one the size of a small dagger. It zoomed forward and into Shade's opposite hand, pinning it to the wall as well and earning another agonized scream.

"Terra! Stop it!" She heard Robin scream past the barricade. Suddenly she realized what she was doing, and the glow in her eyes faded. Slowly the stone dagger and javelin pinning Shade to the wall slid out and he fell into a whimpering heap, clutching at one wound and then the other. The barricade sank back down into the crack in the floor where she'd raised it from, and she breathed heavily. Immediately the guard moved to take Shade's softly crying frame, starting to drag him out. Starfire and Cyborg were her side in an instant, trying their best to calm her.

"Yutani Chemworks." Shade whimpered as he was dragged away, leaving a trail of bright red blood. "They're at Yutani Chemworks you crazy bitch. Under...they're in the tunnels under that."

Terra stood their for a moment, and then sank to her knees, her eyes on the floor. She'd been taught control, how to use her powers without causing a disaster. All so she could stop hurting people and help them. Now she'd just used her new control to torture information out of a man, even if he was a career criminal. A pair of green boots appeared in her vision, and she looked up to see Robin standing in front of her. She'd expected a look of disapproval, or maybe even disgust at her actions there. Instead his gaze soft, understanding. She realized he'd probably done the same kind of thing before, and regretted it then like she did now. There was a long pause, and then he offered her a hand and a nod.

"Come on. We need to get back to the tower and make a plan."

**TTTTT**

Captain Cold was livid. He threw open the metal door to Slade's office with a look of such outrage that he might have been making diamonds out of his teeth. Nearly three hours had passed since he'd seen Sportsmaster dragging the kid into the dark, cramped room with the torture chair, and he'd heard the screaming coming from inside the room. Slade was facing away from him, looking out a window at the cloning tanks and their nearly fully-grown specimens.

"What in the blue fuck was that!?" Cold shouted, his hands balled into fists as he tried to resist the urge to draw one of his pistols and freeze the bastard solid on the spot. Slade still wasn't facing him, and didn't even seem phased by his employee's outburst.

"A part of the job you were paid handsomely for." He droned in that insufferably calm voice that just pissed the ice-based criminal even more. Captain Cold just glared at the one-eyed man, grating the words from between clenched teeth.

"I didn't sign on for torturing children. You cut that boy loose or I walk." Now Slade turned to face the other man, his brow obviously raised under that mask. Whether that was surprise, amusement or both he couldn't tell. But he stood defiantly before the assassin-turned-mastermind, looking him right in that one good eye.

"Really now, Snart? Are you certain you want to go down that path? That wife of yours is so very pretty, after all." He said almost casually, as if he were discussing a movie.

"You touch her and there won't be a day of yours that goes by that the Rogues don't ruin. That's if I don't decide to make you into crushed ice right now." Slade obviously hadn't been expecting that, and he glared at him for a long moment. He let one hand rest near one of his cold gun, glaring right back at his masked employer. They stood like that for a full ten seconds before Slade jerked his head up, gesturing to the door.

"Get out of my sight. I don't ever want to see you again, you pathetic little coward." His tone was sharp, full of contempt. For a moment Captain Cold thought of just blasting Slade and grabbing the kid on his way out. He'd never get out alive if he tried that, though. Much as his conscience might scream at him to get Beast Boy out of there, there really was nothing he could do right then, not without help. Grunting, he turned and starting out the door, hoping that the others had gotten his message earlier.

He felt a terrible jolt in his stomach, and he cried out as his body stiffened in electric pain. He spasmed for a long moment, and then fell still, breathing shallowly. Sportsmaster looked up at Slade with a nod, the high-powered taser in his right hand.

"And then there were four. Shame, too. He's good at his work." He shrugged, looking up at Slade. "What should I do with him?"

"If he's so set on playing the hero for the Titan, throw him in with Beast Boy. Have Parasite start with the drill. His teeth, I think." Sportsmaster chuckled briefly, reaching down relieve Captain Cold of his cold gun, then took his right ankle to drag him along behind him. It was going to be a long and painful evening for the poor guy, but he'd made his bed, and now he had to lie in it. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to listen to the screaming all night. He needed his beauty sleep, after all.

**TTTTT**

"Yutani Chemworks has been abandoned for about three years now, ever since that accident that made Plamus." Cyborg said, standing in front of the team, a quickly-made powerpoint presentation set up on their TV screen. The image onscreen now was an aerial photograph of the factory in question, which in that particular timeframe looked to be completely dilapidated and run-down, to no great surprise. "They kept a big, friendly public face, hid a whole bunch of illegal experiments Lexcorp was funding. Rumor had it they even built this big secret lab under the factory to hide the really nasty stuff, but nobody could confirm it." He paused there, grinning faintly as he clicked to bring up the next image. "Until now. Turns out three years of updates on those scanners pays off. Found a real suspicious energy reading coming from under the factory about twenty minutes ago, and the Watchtower computers found a whole lot of tire residue leading to a warehouse a block away from Yutani."

"Let me guess; it belongs to Lexcorp?" Raven droned, frowning at the screen. Then she paused, looking over to Cyborg in some surprise. "Wait...you said the Watchtower computers? You broke into the Justice League's systems?"

"Used some of their tech without permission." Cyborg quickly clarified. "That's not important now. We gotta focus on how we get in there."

"And how exactly do we do that? What kind of security are we looking at?" Robin asked, looking hard at the image of the warehouse onscreen. He could guess at several armed guards outside, probably at least one sharpshooter posted somewhere they'd have a great view of anyone coming toward the factory or warehouse.

"Nasty stuff. Interior, we're looking at reenforced steel doors leading down, probably some real heavy magnetic locks. Took a peak at their servers, rock-solid stuff. Got enough pit falls that you and me would be at it for a long time. Plenty of time for them realize what's going on and send someone to come say hi to us."

"Can I dig us a tunnel down to the lab?" Terra piped in. Cyborg shook his head.

"Ground there's already unstable with all the tunnels they dug, plus everything up top. The amount of power you'd need to put out to dig us in would collapse the whole thing, probably kill everyone inside." Terra looked down at that, her only idea for getting through to Beast Boy crushed.

"So we'd need to find a way to hack into their servers fast enough to beat whatever response Slade sends, open the doors down into the lab, and fight our way through a hundred gangsters and what's left of Slade's team to find Beast Boy and stop whatever they've got going on down there." Raven listed off the steps in a flat monotone, though at the end her voice carried a trace of pensiveness. The Titans all looked at each other.

"It does not matter how difficult the task is. We must free Friend Beast Boy before Slade harms him any more." Starefire said, calling on the warrior courage of her people to boost her confidence in their ability. All of them nodded in agreement.

"For BB." Cyborg chimed in.

"For Beast Boy." Raven.

"For Beast Boy." Robin. Terra remained silent the longest, looking down at her hands. Then they clenched into fists, and she looked up sharply, her face as determined as could be.

"For Beast Boy."

"Ahem." A new voice spoke up from the hallway door, it's tone very peak of arrogance and self-confidence. All of the Titans looked over sharply, and the figures standing there took them completely by surprise. "I believe I have a solution to your little dilemma."

Mirror Master stood with his arms crossed in the doorway, flanked by three others in full custom. Trickster stood to his far right, carrying a double-barrel shotgun that seemed to have an oversized novelty mustache and nose attached to the barrel. Closer to the green and orange clad criminal was a man none of them had ever seen before; White, from the exposed skin, dressed in a black spandex suit trimmed with light brown, the sleeves cut off just above his thigh-sized biceps. He wore what looked like motocross shoulder pads, gloves and boots, his face hidden by a full black mask. To the left was...

"Jinx?" Robin asked, dumbfounded. The pink-haired teen nodded, smirking over at the Titans and obviously resisting the urge to use her powers on them. Mirror Master stayed her hand, though, and he looked straight at Robin.

"Seems we all have a vested interest in seeing Slade's little plan fail. If you're willing to pretend that were never here, I can get you all into that laboratory." He said matter-of-factly, as if the issue had already been decided.

"What the hell are you doing here and why in the hell do you wanna help us?" Cyborg demanded, starting toward the quartet of supervillains. Jinx and the man in black and brown started forward as well, defensively.

"Now now, no need to be rude. If you must know, Captain Cold asked us to help you. He took offense to Slade's...entertaining himself with your little green friend. So did the rest of us, except may for Jinx here. She's new, she'll get used to how we do things. We aren't common thugs, after all. Ah, anyway, he said he was going to try and get the boy freed, and that he'd contact us if he succeeded. If we didn't hear back from him within an hour, he asked us very politely to...come see to it that Slade wished he had never been born. Hence..." Mirror Master gestured to his team. "Our dropping by to offer our assistance. From the sound of it, it seems you aren't in much position to refuse it either."

The Titans all looked to one another, slowly starting to relax from the surprise of four supervillains appearing in their home to offer help in beating up another super villain and rescuing their friend. The decision was unspoken, but they all agreed to it. Strange as this might have been, it was their best chance at getting in and saving Beast Boy in time, and stopping whatever plan Slade had. Slowly, they all turned to face the gathered Rogues. Robin spoke.

"Alright. We're leaving now. Hope you're ready to live dangerously."


	9. Chapter 8

**Hello again, folks! We're nearing the end of this story, but thankfully with many more to come. This will probably be the longest chapter, with all the exciting, white-knuckle prose you could hope for. If this sensational chapter doesn't stop your adrenaline-engorged heart for five entire seconds, let me know and I will send you a notarized certificate confirming you do not exist. Feedback's always appreciated. Now enough, on with the story! I still own nothing, by the way.**

**Chapter 8**

Greg Deych hummed softly as he washed the blood from the last session off of his hands. Captain Cold was a brave but stupid son of a bitch, and he almost felt bad after he'd taken over for Parasite in drilling the poor bastard's teeth. Almost. He'd put himself in there, though, and now he was keeping the Titan company. He absently wondered how long Slade would keep him around; probably about as long as the kid. He was spiteful like that, and he loved to make examples of people.

Deych frowned as he looked up at the restroom mirror, eying the five o'clock shadow starting to form on his jawline. Still humming that old Italian tune, he reached into his coat pocket for his razor, an ivory-handled straight blade that he'd inherited from his father, and flipped the blade into place. He was just starting to drag the blade carefully up his neck when he saw the man in the green helmet and orange spandex appear in the mirror in front of him.

"Hello. I'm Mirror Master." The man said almost cheerfully.

"What the-" He barely got the words out before the guy leaped out of the mirror and uppercut him hard in the jaw.

**TTTTT**

Raven watched the gangster fly backwards from the punch, crashing into one of the stalls and tearing the door off of its hinges. He let out a long, pained groan, but didn't move again. The others were all in the restroom now, trying to avoid bumping into each other in the smallish quarters. Dimension hopping was never her favorite mode of travel, but she had to admit that the Rogues had had the right idea here. They'd had several options inside the secret underground lab, but this mirror had been closest to the center of the facility, making their dispersal for the search easier.

They'd agreed on splitting into three teams. Starfire would go with Trickster and the largest of the Rogues, a super-powered thief and mercenary with herculean strength and heightened senses who'd simply called himself Rottweiler. Robin and Cyborg would go with Jinx, who's desire to avenge her own old team was enough to placate her contempt for the Titans. That left Terra and her with Mirror Master. Robin turned to face the gathered supers, his face set in a mask of fierce determination.

"Spread out and find Beast Boy and Captain Cold. We meet back here when we've got them, then tear this place apart. Whatever Slade's got going here needs to be stopped and fast." Everyone acknowledged him and broke into their groups. They all started out into the hall, Raven, Terra and Mirror Master heading down the first right corner they could find. The half-demon frowned as she reached out with her mind, trying to get a sense of the people in the general area. There were dozens of minds around them, most of them small and brutal. Beast Boy's or Cold's would stand out like a sore thumb, but there were a lot to sift through here...

"The fu-boys! Sound the alarm, we got trouble!" A rough voice barked from the end of the hallway. One of Slade's goons was trying to free a pistol from a shoulder holster, but Mirror Master was quicker, drawing one of his own laser pistols and blasting the man backwards into the wall. Several more of the thugs came around the corners, weapons drawn. There was no hesitation, they simply fired down the hall at the trio. Reacted instantly, forming a wall of darkness before them that stopped the bullets in an instant. Four tendrils shot out from that barrier to rip the guns away, and they all looked down in shock at their empty hands. Terra was on them immediately, ripping fist-sized chunks of rock of of the floor and hurling them at the thugs. They all went sprawling and left moaning in the hallway while the three ran past them. There was no telling when more of them would be coming for them, or when they would get the alarms going. They needed to move fast, and Raven swept through the minds around them as quickly as she could. More of those crude and low thoughts were all around them, but she swore she felt something...

"There, to the right!" She shouted as they rounded a corner. They turned sharply again, greeted by another pair of thugs. Raven caught them immediately, dark blasts of magical energy putting them on their backs with cries of pain. She could sense the pair of minds less than twenty yards down, both in pain but defiant. The alarm klaxons sounded, eliminating any chance at stealth now. They were getting close to Beast Boy and Cold now, though. They just needed to move a little faster.

From out of the room she sensed the two minds in, a familiar purple frame burst out in surprise at the alarms, swearing and looking down either side of the hall. He stopped when he saw the trio of supers, his face melting into a scowl.

"Oh you've gotta be frigging kidding me. How the hell are you kids not dead yet? And...hell, Sam, what are you doing with these punks?" Parasite demanded, glaring at his fellow crook. Mirror Master shrugged, his laser pistols in hand and aimed at the other.

"Doing my good deed for the year. I'm a crook, but torturing children is just distasteful."

"Gonna be your last deed too!" Came another voice from behind them. Raven and Mirror Master turned in time to see Atomic's Skull charging towards them. One swing of his meaty fist sent Mirror Master flying down the hallway, and a blast of radiation from his mouth forced Raven to hide behind a barrier of magic, which wavered under that constant attack. Parasite was on Terra in an instant, trying to grab at her throat. She kept him at bay with a rock the size of his torso torn from the ground and trying to push him back into the wall at the end of the corridor, but he kept trying to move toward her. Finally he managed to climb up onto the flying rock, launching himself off of it and toward her. She tried to call up another, but his momentum was too great. One hand was on her wrist, the other her throat, and she cried out as he started to drain her power.

And then he was suddenly pulled off her, a black bird's claw seizing him in its vice-like grip. Raven stood there, eyes consumed by dark energy while Mirror Master had gotten back to his feet and held off Atomic Skull with blasts from his pistols. Parasite struggled in that grasp, starting to call on his stolen power with glowing yellow eyes. Raven wasn't having any of it. Shade wasn't here to save them this time.

"Azarath, metrion, zinthos!" She shouted the magic words, and then Parasite was slammed into the ground with tremendous force. She slammed him down again and again, visible cracks appearing in the foundation. She held him in the air for a long moment, looking over her work critically. Then she gave him one more slam to the ground for good measure before she hurled the purple villain across the hallway where he smashed into the wall hard. He laid their a moment, completely still and looking up at the ceiling. Raven smirked faintly as she heard a long, pained squeaking breath coming from Parasite as he just laid there in utter defeat. Terra looked at her as got back to her feet, offering a nod and smile.

"Thanks. I was really getting sick of that guy." Raven smiled back, but then the expression melted as she turned back to where the others were fighting. Mirror Master had Atomic Skull fairly evenly matched, ducking under his swings now that he was on his guard and jabbing at his torso. Terra decided to give him a hand, pulling two huge slabs from the wall and crashing them both into Skull. She wasn't stupid enough to think that that would work for very long, so she immediately pulled up another behind the first two. Sure enough, the bruiser broke free of his vice-like prison, snarling but staggered. He didn't see the third slab of rock coming, and it struck him squarely between the shoulders. He fell to his face then, and she followed it with a downward slam of that rock onto the radioactive villain. He groaned once, long and pained, but didn't move again. She turned back to Raven and Mirror Master then. "Come on, we've lost enough time. Let's get our friends out of there!"

**TTTTT**

Beast Boy woke to the sounds of fighting outside the room. His body was still aching deeply from Slade's handiwork, and he was aware that most of his costume was stained black with dried blood. His mouth hurt worse than he ever imagined it could, thanks to that drill. God, that drill. Across from him, Captain Cold chuckled faintly, but broke off with a pained grunt, and Beast Boy imagined that he'd gotten about the same treatment, though he'd been too distracted with his own pain to notice.

"Hehehe...cavalry's here, kiddo. You...you can thank me later." He heard Cold rattle through the pain. Indeed, he heard Parasite scream outside, and...Raven. Raven was out there. So was...

"Terra!" He shouted as loud as his raw throat would allow, struggling against the restraints around his wrists and ankles.

"Beast Boy? Just hang on! We're getting you out of here!" He heard Terra shout back, then the clatter of feet on the hard tile floors. A few seconds later, he saw the most beautiful sight in his entire life. She was a little battered and worn from the events of the last day's events, but she still looked every bit as wonderful as the day he'd met her. She didn't hesitate, running up to him and practically throwing her arms around him. She kissed him, heedless of the dried blood on his lips, and he was all too happy to welcome that moment of warmth from the girl he loved. She drew back then, and when she saw the extend of what was done to him, her eyes widened and her hands went over her mouth.

He was a mess, to say the least. Numerous, slashing cuts ran across his chest, which was laid mostly bare after the top right half of his costume had become too damaged to stay up. His shoulders and the tops of his feet had deep holes where the power drill had gone through him. His face was swollen horribly from the beatings and the drills taken to his teeth. When she looked down at his bound hands, she saw that three of the fingernails from the left had been torn off.

"Oh, Beast Boy..."She said on the verge of tears. He smiled weakly at her, even if it hurt like hell to do so.

"I'll be fine. Just...get me out of these, alright?" He looked down to his restraints, which Terra set to almost instantly, kicking herself for leaving them that long. "How'd you guys find me?"

"Captain Cold. He sent some of the Rogues to come help us." Terra answered, finally getting the leather straps off of his wrists and then the ones around his ankles. He tried to stand, but he screamed as electric jolts of pain shot through his feet. Of course. His feet had been drilled. Slowly, he looked over at Captain Cold, who grinned faintly at the two of them with bloody teeth, Mirror Master working his own restraints.

"Thanks, dude...almost makes up for that first time you froze Raven."

"Put it on my crime tab, kid. We'll figure out when we're even when we're out of here." Cold replied, standing with a bit of help from his fellow Rogue. Raven joined Terra at his side then, frowning at the sight of his bloody body. Without a word she reached out and began to channel her magic. Slowly he felt the pain begin to dull, and while it still lingered, it wasn't so crippling as before. Looking down at his feet, he saw the holes slowly starting to seal up. He'd be able to walk again, but more importantly, he felt whatever drugs Slade had put in him to suppress his powers purged from his system. He could change again, and he was so glad for that he could almost have kissed Raven. He settled for giving her hand a quick squeeze, smiling faintly.

"Let's get out of here. We got lots of bad guys to stop today..."

**TTTTT**

"You do not seem to be so mean as the villains we are used to fighting." Starfire said to Trickster as she tossed one of the thugs across the room and into a stack of crates. The colorful man grinned over at her as he tossed a handful of what looked like marbles at another group of armed men. They landed at the men's feet, and they stopped their gunfire for a moment to just stare in bafflement. Then the tiny balls burst and filled the air around them tear gas. All of the thugs went down screaming, writhing on the ground as they choked and tried to claw the stinging agony out of their eyes.

"Who says ya gotta be mean to enjoy this job? Just need equal parts mental health issues and mortgage payments! And bilateral symmetry!" He shouted, raising his gag nose tipped shotgun and firing at an ambitious goon that had tried coming at them in a forklift. The vehicle halted in its tracks, the acid eating through the metal and forcing the driver to leap out with a curse. The Tamaranian looked at him a bit puzzled. "Hehe. It's a snotgun."

"You'll hafta forgive him. Jimmy's off his meds again." The man called Rottweiler said, holding up a pallet of wooden crates over his head before hurling it at a retreating group of Slade's men. "Ex-wife and two kids I got full custody of. College fund ain't gonna build itself. He's right, though. Ain't nothin' in the job description says I gotta be a total jackass." Starfire could at least partially understand that. While she certainly did not approve of his methods, and she wouldn't hesitate to beat him into submission if she caught him committing crimes in Jump City, his devotion to fatherhood was respectable.

"You know, Tamaranian," a voice called out from her right, where she turned sharply to view the speaker. "I'm getting real sick of having to beat you and your friends stupid just for you to come back again. Isn't that kind of the definition of insanity, to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results?" It was Sportsmaster, standing atop the pile of crate pallets in the massive storage room. Electrocutioner was beside him, his gauntlets crackling with energy.

"I would ask you to surrender peacefully, I do not wish to harm you." Stafire said, looking up at the two costumed men. Both of them stared at her in amazement.

"...has that ever worked?" Electrocutioner asked with what seemed to be genuine curiosity. Starfire frowned as her eyes started to glow bright green, starbolts forming in her hands.

"I would ask you this if you did not harm my friends so much as you have. Now I will settle for beating you into the ground!" And then she rocketed toward the pair, launching her bolts along the way. Both men managed to dodge those balls of alien energy, but Sportsmaster grunted as he suddenly found himself lifted off his feet as Starfire tackled him. They both went flying into the ceiling, where the alien began to pound at his face and chest as hard as she dared. Bellow her Electrocutioner had engaged with Trickster and Rottweiler, trading blows with the big man while he tried to avoid the colorful gag-themed weapons. The alien then seized the dazed Sportsmaster by the front of his outfit, hurling him straight down to the concrete floor. He hit it hard, gasping to try and recover the breath that had been knocked out of him. He swore then, barely rolling out of the way in time to avoid Starfire's follow up stomp. He scrambled to his feet, and the orange Titan swung straight for his head. Ducking under the punch, the big man countered with a solid kick of his own that sent the wind out of her lung. Sportsmaster took immediate advantage of the situation, closing in on Starfire and jabbing hard at her ribs. She staggered back, gritting her teeth with the pain, and tried to push back against the onslaught.

The mistake was a simple one, so slight that she wasn't even sure it was a mistake. A punch came at her face that was an ounce or two harder than it should have been, and traveled no more than a fraction of an inch further than he'd intended. It was enough for her to secure her victory, though. Her hand flashed up and caught his wrist in a crushing grip, earning a sharp cry from the villain which was silenced suddenly when her knee slammed up into his face. The dark hockey mask shattered on impact, and she could feel his nose crunch wetly against her kneecap. He flew backwards with an arch of blood gushing from his broken nose, several teeth clattering on the floor before he landed in one of the crate pallets. Striking the wood with a resounding crash, Sportsmaster groaned for a long moment, starting to rise but then falling back against the splintered heap. She looked back at Electrocutioner as he desperately tossed aside one of his gauntlets, the acid from Trickster's snotgun eating away at the red metal. Rottweiler seized his chance then and bolted at man that had hurt Cyborg so. The shoulder-check knocked Electrocutioner off of his feet, and soon Rottweiler knelt over him, raining blows down on his face. Thankfully he seemed to be aware of the Titans' feelings toward lethal force, and was pulling his punches. After around ten seconds of that barrage, he was satisfied that his foe wouldn't be bothering them again that day, and stood up with a nod toward the alien princess. She smiled back in return, offering a gesture of approval she had seen performed many times before. The man stared at her for a moment.

"...wrong finger, kiddo. You wanna do that with your thumb unless you're looking to pick a fight." He corrected helpfully.

"This is Raven. We've got Beast Boy and Captain Cold. Parasite and Atomic Skull are down, too. We're heading back to the restroom." Starfire looked down at her communicator with a sigh of relief. She was about to reply when Robin's cut in.

"Um...guys...go ahead and cancel that order to meet back at the restroom. We've found Slade's gameplan."

"We are on our way, Robin! You need not worry about Sportsmaster or Electrocutioner, either!" She chimed, clipping the communicator back to her belt and gesturing for the two Rogues to follow her. For a moment she wondered why Robin had sounded so nervous over the comm. It sounded as if they had beaten all of Slade's super-powered minions. What else could there be that disturbed him so?

**TTTTT**

There were definitely more than four cloning tanks here. Robin counted at least ten lined up in two rows, and he had no idea if there were more in the corners of the lab he couldn't see. Most of them seemed to be empty, though two in the row to his right that had something that looked vaguely human floating inside. Upon closer inspection, he could see that, indeed there were human beings floating inside the tanks. The same face stared out at the lab through the thick glass, eyes unfocused. They looked to be just about twelve, and he swore he could see it growing even as he watched.

"Where are the others?" Jinx asked, looking over several of the tanks suspiciously. "No way in hell he's only made two of these."

"Quite right, Jinx. I've been rather busy with them." They all heard the voice around them, scratchy and filtered from the old PA system. A light above them suddenly switched on, illuminating the overhanging off they hadn't noticed before. The observation glass was probably reenforced, so Robin didn't bother with any of his explosives yet. "I have to say, I'm surprised to see you here. Found yourself a new team?"

"Yeah, and you're going to pay for what you did to my last one." Jinx grated from between clenched teeth, her eyes beginning to glow as she hurled an arch of bright pink energy at Slade. It struck the window, crackling for a long moment before it dissipated. The former HIVE member glared at the one-eyed man through that heavy glass, already trying to work up more energy. Robin put a hand to her shoulder, staring up at Slade as well.

"Carlson said two weeks at least to grow them. How'd you manage it in one?" The Titan leader asked. Slade chuckled at that, pacing as he watched the gathered teens below.

"Ah yes, this is the part where I rattle off the details of my plan in some grand display of self-congratulation. No harm it it now, though. You're too late to stop the process." He droned, his good eye fixed on Robin. "You would be amazed what a simple tweak to a formula can produce. For example, a few alterations to the standard venom mixture produces quite a growth stimulant. Introducing it in the early stages of cloning does wonders in speeding up the process. And of course..." He reached over toward one of the consoles in his office then, tapping a single button. Behind the Titans, two doors opened, and the heavy clatter of boots on the metal floor souded. "The standard drug is quite useful on its own afterward."

There were ten of them, all dressed in black and orange uniforms similar to those worn by Slade's drones, though these were obviously not machines. On their right wrists, Robin saw a familiar device with a bright red tube connecting to the back of their heads. The boy wonder's eyes went wide; They all had venom tubes.

"Quite impressive, aren't they? Nearly as skilled as I was at their physical age. And I didn't even have venom to help me then." With those words, the clones of Slade all reached for the devices on their arms simultaneously, pressing a few buttons before they fixed their gaze on the Titans. Before their eyes they began to grow, grunting and growling as the steroid filled their veins. "Within a week I'll have enough to secure the city. The Justice League won't dare to challenge me, lest I let my...children run rampant in the city. Pity you won't be around to see it."

"They will never leave this building!" A green bolt of energy struck one of the clones in the chest, and then there was a sudden flash of purple, red and orange. Starfire tried tackling the hulking brute with gritted teeth and glowing eyes, forcing it back several back before it dug its heels into the ground, stopping them dead in their tracks. From the corner of his eye, Robin saw Raven, Trickster and Rottweiler charging into the room as well. The odds were evening, but still not good; Only Starfire, Cyborg and Rottweiler would be able to fight the venom clones directly. Everyone else would have to keep their distance, keep their attacks at range and try to cut those venom tubes.

"Titans, go!" He shouted, reading the first of his explosive boomerangs and hurling it at the nearest clone while the gathered supers began to fight. His weapon struck home, staggering the monster, but little more. He saw Cyborg and Rottweiler slugging it out with two more, while the one Starfire had rushed lifted her up over its head and slammed her down into the ground. Robin snarled and drew a sling from his belt, throwing it at the clone as it raised its fist to strike her again. The rope wrapped around it's legs, throwing its balance off and sending falling face down. Starfire took full advantage, reaching for the venom tube and ripping it out as hard as she could. The clone cried out in the agony of the absence of its drug, but was quickly silenced when the alien began to rain blows down on it. She didn't have to pull her punches here. She hadn't been finished with that first opponent for more than a second before another had swept her off her feet, smashing her into a wall and hammering at her ribs. Robin prepared another sling, but found himself swept aside as well by a herculean backhand.

Raven and Jinx were back to back, trying their best to keep three more clones at bay, their magics doing little more than slowing them however. One of them had briefly been trapped by one of the half-demon's raven claw constructs, only for it to break free with a surge of strength and a roar. It's heavy fist swung at her head, and she tried to pull up a barrier in front of her she knew would arrive too late. The blow never came, however, as Jinx blasted the clone with an arch of her own energies, sending it sliding back several yards. It was back at them a moment later, and Raven had barely enough time to form a wall of darkness around them. Two of the clones were beating savagely at the barrier, and it wavered under the vicious attack.

The both realized what was wrong with that picture around the same time. The third clone came from behind them, seizing them both by the throats as they turned to face it. The others immediately turned and started toward their fellows fighting Cyborg and Rottweiler while the two goth-looking teens were held and strangled by the brute. As she struggled for air, Raven could see three of the clones were surrounding Rottweiler, drowning the man in a hail of fists, and Cyborg was being held back by another while it's fellow beat at his face and chest. Robin and Starfire were both on the losing end of their fights as well, the Tamaranian set on both sides by clones that batted aside her strikes easily, while Robin was being soundly whipped about like a disobedient puppy. Raven's vision started to blur then, and she knew that soon she would run out of air, or that her throat would simply collapse.

Then, suddenly, the clone's grip slackened and it roared, clutching at the back of its head as venom spurted from the slashed tube. Raven and Jinx fell to the ground sucking down great lungfuls of air as fast as they could, looking up at to her savior. It was Terra, eyes blazing yellow as she shot the hail of sharpened slivers of stone at the clones. The one that had been holding Cyborg's arms back cried out as it's venom tube was slashed as well, the others quickly raising their arms to shield themselves. Cyborg and Rottweiler were quick to resume their attack, the Titan blasting his attack into one of the tanks with the white noise cannon while the Rogue had pulled the legs out from one of his, using it's body as a weapon to bludgeon the others away before hurling it over at Cyborg's. Raven noticed then that Captain Cold was beside Terra, solid spikes of ice firing from his cold gun at one of the straggling clones trying to flank Cyborg. Two of the icicles struck home, the first sinking into the monster's chest, then second piercing through the left eye and into its brain. That still left four in fighting shape, but now numbers were in their favor. Slowly, Raven rose to her feet, helping Jinx up to her eyes with a nod and a crooked smirk. The pink-haired girl returned it, turning to their remaining foes.

**TTTTT**

Slade's good eye twitched as he stood in shock at the display before him. His clone soldiers were being systematically destroyed before his very eyes, and there was nothing that he could do about it now. Cold. Another goddamned traitor had ruined everything, and now he had nothing to work with in this city. He thought briefly of going down there and breaking Robin and Terra's necks, leave the Titans with something to mourn aside from Beast Boy's mutilation, but it was gone when he remembered how hilariously outnumbered he would be down there. Then, thinking on it again, he noticed the problem down bellow. Beast Boy was nowhere to be seen. He knew full well that the Titans would never have left the boy alone after they'd come to all this trouble to rescue him. So where was the little green bastard?

The figures appeared in the window right before his eyes, the man in green and orange smirking at him before he leaped out with a heavy kick aimed at his chest. Slade caught Mirror Master's foot and twisted, sending the other villain spinning to the ground. He almost didn't see the giant green tiger following after the other, and wasn't able to dodge in time to keep the claws from raking over his chest. Flesh split and he felt hot blood running down his torso, the tiger morphing back into Beast Boy's human form. The Titan looked almost as bloody and beaten as he'd left him, save that the holes he'd drilled into his feet and shoulders were sealed, and the swelling of his face had started to go down. They both glared at eachother, waiting for the other to make the next move.

"Stay out of it. He's mine." Beast Boy said almost absently to Mirror Master. He looked pretty happy to listen to that demand, and a few seconds later he was down with the others fighting the remaining clones. Slade chuckled faintly.

"Brave, boy, but foolish. I'm going to enjoy throwing your corpse to your little friends before I leave." He lunged forward then, his heavy boot swinging at the changeling's head. The green Titan morphed into a gorilla before he could connected, however, the kick deflected against the ape's enormous arm. He started to move, but was flung backward by a swing of the other first, right where the slashes in his chest were. Snarling he ducked under the next punch, reaching out to grab the gorilla's arm and using the momentum to hurl Beast Boy at the reinforced window. It cracked loudly when he impacted it, but didn't break, the dazed changeling reverted to his human force. Slade was on him immediately, bolting forward and booting Beast Boy in the gut before he reached down to grab him by the throat, jabbing at the red slashes where he'd cut the boy earlier. He screamed as several of the wounds were reopened, blood running freely down his chest.

The moment of triumph didn't last long as he watched the green teenager morph again, suddenly a raptor appearing before him. The one-eyed man cried out sharply as dagger-like teeth sank into his arm and a hooked claw slashed at his calf. He pushed away from his opponent, leaving a bright red trail. He blocked out the pain, trying to focus his body toward mending those gushing wounds, but it wasn't quick enough. He sidestepped the next slash of that sickle-like claw, swinging for the raptor's ribs. His fist traveled through empty air, and his eye went wide. There was now a hummingbird hovering before his face, then flittering off behind him. He turned just in time to see the hulking green bull charging straight at him. The air gushed from his lungs as he was swept off his feet, carried on the Titan's head and into the wall. He felt his as if his spine were ready to snap from the force of that blow. He brought his elbows and fists down on the animal's head, and his knees into its neck. A well-placed blow between the eyes dazed Beast Boy again, forcing him to revert into his human form. The uppercut that followed sent the Titan flying then, crashing into one of the office desk in the center of the room. With a roar, Slade took a bounding leap that left him standing above BB. His first came down on the green teen's face, then again and again, blood flying from both his own wounds and Beast Boy's as he reopened old ones. He grabbed the boy by the jaw, leaning into snarl right into his face.

"Die, you pathetic worm! DIE!" His hands were around Beast Boy's throat now, squeezing as hard as he could while his victim gasped and choked under him. The sight brought a smirk to Slade's lips, even as he strangled the life from Beast Boy. Slowly, the struggling became weaker, and his smirk grew into a malicious grin under that featureless mask.

Beast Boy's eyes shot open then, and he too roared, but this one one of an animal. He began to grow, and grow until Slade was forced back. His eye went wide at the lion now standing before him. There was no hesitation; Beast Boy surged forward and put Slade on his back, hind claws raking at his torso while the forelimbs pinned the villain's arms down, teeth snapping in his face. Slade screamed in pain, and it was beautiful to Beast Boy at that moment. His teeth sank into the man's shoulder, pull him up as he bounded toward the cracked window. Weakened by the earlier impact, it shattered and the two of them went sailing out into the cloning lab. They landed in bloody heaps, Slade unmoving while the youngest Titan panted heavily, back in his natural form.

"Beast Boy!" It was Terra, and the changeling lifted his bleeding head up to see her running to his side. She pulled him in without a moment's hesitation, letting his head rest in her lap. The others gathered around him a moment later, save Rottweiler, who bent the sturdiest pipe he could find around Slade's unconscious form. "Beast Boy, Garfield, you're bleeding bad. We need to get him to a hospital now."

All eyes were on Mirror Master. He sighed.

"I suppose I could use a little good publicity. Might help with my sentence the next time I'm at trial." While he prepared to bring the Titans in through the largest reflective surface he could find, Beast Boy looked up at Terra weakly. He smiled through bloody teeth.

"Told him...I'd never let him hurt you again." He looked over at Slade, still unmoving and breathing shallowly. "Looks like I kept that promise." All was black a moment later.


	10. Epilogue

**Well, this is it for this story. After this it'll be officially complete and it'll be time to work on the next part to this series. It was great working on this one, but everything has to come to a close eventually. Enjoy, and keep an eye out for the next fic, coming soon!**

**Epilogue**

Slade awoke in a medical bed. How long he'd been slipping in and out of consciousness he didn't know, but he was aware that he was in a prison. The armed and uniformed guard would have tipped him off if he wasn't, as would the barred windows and the general din filling the air. His body ached deeply, and though his body was fully capable of healing faster than any normal man had a right to, he could still feel his flesh and bones mending. Perhaps it was artificially slowed, or Beast Boy's attack had been more serious than he'd thought. Either way, he knew he wouldn't be leaving for several days at least.

"He's awake, ma'am. Come on in." He heard the guard speak into a radio. Without another word the man stepped out of the room, slipping a slim cigarette between his lips as he walked. For a moment, he was left alone. No doctors, no nurses, no other patients. That left only a few possibilities as to what was about to happen. He wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight, but if they were here for his life, they wouldn't get it without a fight. He reached out for the IV stand as he heard footsteps outside the room, ready to bring it around if they tried anything cute.

The first two through the door were large, square-jawed men with shaved heads and cleanly-shave cheeks. Probably military or some sort of government service from their posture and the meticulously pressed suits. They moved to flank his bed as the third of his visitors arrived; Tall, Black, fat, her hair cut in a no-nonsense crew cut, her own dark blue suit jacket and skirt as neat as her subordinates'. She folded her hands behind her back as she moved to stand at the foot of his bed, her face set grimly as she eyed the battered, nearly naked man.

"Slade Wilson, formerly Lieutenant Colonel Wilson, United States Army. Born in Macon, Georgia to Reuben and Carla Wilson. Lied about your age to join the army at sixteen, served in Korea, Burma, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as several secret operations in Russia, Markovia, Kasnia, Cuba and China. Married Captain Adeline Kane in 1972, had your first child, Grant Wilson, in 1973. Second child, Rose Wilson, born in 1986, and Joseph Wilson, AKA Jericho, in 1988. Volunteered for Project Terminator in 1967, where you were injected with a serum which gave you enhanced strength and regenerative abilities. Dishonorably discharged when you disobeyed orders to rescue a British agent named Wintergreen, who served as your butler until dying of a heart attack five moths ago. Operated as a mercenary in secret for nearly thirty years. Divorced in 1994 after Joseph was kidnapped by Jackal and a former friend of yours named Bill Walsh, then left mute when your rescue was botched. Of course, that was after Adeline shot you in the face and destroyed your right eye." She paused to look him squarely in the eye, her lips pulled into a faintly amused smirk. "Shall I continue?"

Slade merely glared at her, his own lips pressed into a thin line as he listened to the fat bitch speak. He thought of clubbing her and the man on his left with the IV stand, but he knew the other marine, he guessed, would put him down before he could do anything more.

"You have my full attention. Curious as to how you know my resume so well. I'll have to order a few body bags."

"It's my job to be aware of the likes of you, Mr. Wilson. It's also my job to ensure that this country is kept safe with the very best talent possible. You made that job more difficult when you stole a shipment I had moved to STAR Labs for a crucial project. Hence my visit to this lovely facility." Slade laughed bitterly at that, his bearded face twisting into a bemused expression.

"Trying to convince me to reenlist, pay you back for the chemicals? I'm afraid I'm not much of a patriot anymore." The woman's face was unmoving, back to that stoney look of grim determination.

"Tell me, how is that morphine treating you?" The one-eyed man's brow raised at that. He didn't bother to answer her. She continued, the smirk slowly returning to her fat face. "Those nanobots you infected the Titans with last year were an impressive piece. My boys at the lab had some real fun with the modifications." Slade's blood stood still, chilled in his veins. He looked at the IV bag, half-empty now as it dripped the drugs into his body. He stared at it for a long moment, then, slowly, he turned back to the woman.

"What do you want?" He demanded harshly, though for the first time in many years, fear made its way into his voice.

"You, Mr. Wilson." She leaned in closer, eyes burrowing into his soul as her hand came up with a small, cylindrical device tipped with a red trigger. He knew it very well. "I'm putting together a task force for some very delicate work. We're going to reawaken that patriotism. More importantly," She leaned in even closer, her free hand resting on the edge of his bed while her thumb moved dangerously towards the trigger of the device. "Slade the mastermind is dead. Deathstroke the Terminator, however, is going to be coming out of retirement, and he _will _serve his country again. Have I made myself clear?"

There was little choice in the matter.

"Transparently."

**TTTTT**

Beast Boy groaned as he sat up in his bed, wincing at the pain in his chest. On the TV, Cartoon Network played a re-run of Samurai Jack, which he had been watching intently before he felt the need to stretch. Terra's hand was on his shoulder immediately, helping him up carefully.

"Easy, BB, the doctor said you needed to relax for a week or two." She said, her voice as soft and soothing as could be. He looked up and smiled at her, and she smiled back, leaning over to kiss his cheek, which when bright red immediately after.

"I know. Just need to stretch my legs a little, I promise I'll take it easy." Beast Boy said, starting to rise up out of bed slowly. Nodding, Terra stood as well, her hand close to his in case he needed it. She'd been his side constantly since they'd gotten out of the cloning lab, both in the hospital and the tower when the doctors had declared it safe to take him home. The other Titans had been relieved when they were told he'd make a full recovery, though he himself had turned white a sheet when he realized he'd need to take a lot of trips to a dental surgeon to get his teeth fixed. "So what's the word on Slade and his guys?"

"Slade's in prison here now, they've been talking about setting up the trial as soon as possible. Parasite, Atomic Skull and Shade are all getting moved to Stryker's. Electrocutioner and Sportsmaster got sent to Blackgate." Terra said, walking close at Beast Boy's side as they went down the hall toward the living room. The changeling nodded and smiled again, still blushing at the closeness of Terra's body to him. The other Titans were waiting for them, and they greeted him with open smiles, even Raven.

"Well now, look who's moving around again!" Cyborg said, clasping his adoptive brother on the shoulder. Beast Boy winced a little, but grinned back at the older teen. "Bet you'll be back to your old self in a couple days."

"Hope so. Not looking forward to going to the dentist..." Beast Boy said with a little bit of dread in his voice at that thought.

"Ah relax, they'll knock you out for that whole thing." Cy said reassuringly, making room as Raven approached the two of them. She looked at the short, green boy, her hood down and her expression warmer than he'd ever seen before.

"We're proud of you, so you know. Beating Slade like you did after what he'd done took strength and courage." She turned to Terra then. "And of you. We couldn't have stopped his plan if you weren't here. We're glad to have you on the team." Both of them blushed at that, smiling shyly. Terra was the first to speak.

"Thank you, all of you for taking me in. I know that I screwed up bad the first time. I almost betrayed you all after what you've done for me, and it's never going to happen again. You're the best friends I've ever had. And...Beast Boy..." She turned to the green Titan, and soundly kissed him full on the lips. Cyborg gave an emphatic whoop and Stafire squealed with such delight that she might have exploded into confetti. Robin and Raven just nodded with wry smirks, stepping back to give the two room. Terra eventually pulled back, leaving both their faces even brighter than before. "I love you. I always will."

Beast Boy just stood there awkwardly for a moment, blushing and smiling at his geomancer girlfriend. Then, slowly, he slipped his arms around her waist, heedless of the ache the movement caused in his chest.

"I love you too, Terra."

"Why don't we let the lovebirds enjoy the view for a while? I'm sure they'd like to enjoy the sunset over the city that owes them again." Robin said, gesturing for the others follow them. "I'll buy the pizza."

And so the two Titans were left alone then, basking in each other's warmth as they watched the sun fall over Jump City. The challenges ahead would be great, but facing them together and with with their friends, they would conquer them all. For now, however, they were content to enjoy the other's company, full of love for each other and pride for what they had accomplished. They were Titans together, now and forever.

**End**


End file.
